IER Unveils Blueprint For Unleashing American Energy

As the Trump administration settles into a their first week in office the Institute for Energy Research, AEA’s sister organization, released The American Energy Blueprint. This report serves as a comprehensive set of policy recommendations to guide the new Trump administration’s approach to energy policy.

The American Energy Blueprint outlines key reforms in areas such as federal land and water use, expanding consumer choice, reducing subsidies, curbing government spending and taxation, streamlining regulations, and modernizing the permitting process.

The full Blueprint is available for download here, and can be viewed below:


Federal Lands and Waters

The Biden administration launched an unprecedented attack on energy development on federal lands. From restricting land use to slowing or halting permitting approvals and raising fees, the administration did seemingly everything to make energy development on federal lands more difficult and more expensive as part of its pledge to “end fossil fuels.” The Trump administration should take swift action to reverse these actions and Congress should update statutes to ensure such abuse cannot happen again in the future.

Source: Bureau of Land Management

Administrative Actions:

  • Reverse restrictive Biden actions in ANWR and NPR-A, and revoke other Alaska land-use limitations on energy and minerals. Alaska is over twice the size of Texas; two-thirds of it is federally owned and 86% of it is inaccessible by road.
  • Reverse the illegal denial of an access road to Alaska’s Ambler Mining District, one of the U.S.’s most potentially prolific sources of valuable rare earth minerals.
  • Bureau of Ocean Energy Management should proceed with Lease Sale 262 in 2025, as planned, and create a new, more comprehensive Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) five-year leasing program, including at least two lease sales per year in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). With the current OCS five-year leasing program under litigation, the administration should request a voluntary remand to resolve all pending petitions.
  • Release a new offshore leasing plan.
  • Approve permits for new mines.
  • Executive order to reconsider all Biden administration decisions on land withdrawals from energy or mining leasing.
  • Reverse the Biden actions requiring higher fees and costs for production in certain areas.
  • Review, reverse, and shrink Biden Obama-era national monument designations.

Additional resources from IER:

Legislative Actions:

  • Turn mismanaged federal lands over to the states and look for opportunities to privatize them.
  • Antiquities Act reform: Require monument designations to be approved by Congress, not by a unilateral presidential act.
  • Repeal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provisions increasing costs of production on federal lands.

Additional resources from IER:


Consumer Choice

The American people have the right to choose the consumer products that best fit their needs and budgets. However, the Biden administration aggressively sought to restrict the types of durable goods, such as cars and appliances, that are available for sale. This burdens consumers with higher costs and often forces them to purchase inferior products. The new administration must quickly withdraw these rules that unlawfully restrict consumer choice, while Congress should work diligently to repeal or reform the underlying legislation that enabled the abusive rulemaking.

Source: The American Action Forum

Administrative Actions:

  • Reconsider and repeal the EPA’s tailpipe emissions rules for all vehicle classes.
  • Reconsider and repeal the 2027-2032 CAFE standards.
  • Revoke the California waiver: revoke the ACC I waiver and deny the ACC 2 waiver (or CRA).
  • Deny or withdraw other unlawful California waivers that have been requested or granted (trains, trucks).
  • Reconsider the Biden administration’s excessive appliance standards on gas stoves, home heating, furnaces, dishwashers, and other appliances. Consider creating new product classes to ensure that important appliance features have not been lost through the imposition of over-strict regulations.
  • Executive Order: Ban any agency action that prohibits or substantially limits energy by targeting any one particular source, absent direction from Congress.

Additional Resources From IER:

Legislative Actions:

  • Repeal the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards.
  • Repeal the Renewable Fuel Standards.
  • Repeal Appliance Efficiency Standards.

Additional Resources From IER:


Subsidies and Spending

The Biden administration, with the help of Congress, engaged in an unprecedented spending binge in the energy policy space. Subsidies were created en masse for favored products and energy sources, slush funds were created to subsidize left-wing activism, spending prioritized political activism over scientific research, and tax rules were bent to hand out even more money than Congress authorized. These actions are exploding deficits and distorting energy markets, creating a death spiral of subsidization that threatens their resiliency. Where possible, the administration should halt this spending by agency action, and Congress must follow up by repealing the trillions of dollars of subsidies that were passed, particularly in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.

Administrative Actions: 

  • Replace Treasury guidance for IRA credits to enforce the content requirements passed by Congress.
  • Halt and review all of the Department of Energy loan programs.
  • Revoke and rescind the U.S. International Climate Finance Plan.
  • Halt funding for Department of Energy awards that were not “awarded” by the inauguration.
  • Halt all climate bank contributions.
  • Halt green group slush funds and environmental justice initiatives that were created during the last administration.
  • End the American Climate Corps.
  • Review all power purchasing agreements the federal government has negotiated under the Biden administration and review to ensure federal facilities are not paying above market rates.
  • Executive order: Provide guidance on research funding. RCP 8.5 or similar extreme scenarios should not be used in projects that receive federal research dollars.
  • Executive order: All federally funded research must be made available free to the public and underlying data and models must be made available for review.
  • Review Treasury and IRS guidance on repowering rules for renewable tax credits.
  • Eliminate the Department of Energy Clean Energy Corps and other agency Climate Corps initiatives (American Climate Corps).
  • Conduct an audit and oversight of money distributed by the Biden administration to political and activist groups.
  • Direct the Energy Information Administration to update and publish the discontinued report: Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy.

Additional Resources From IER:

Legislative Actions: 

  • Repeal Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits.
  • Provide guidance to the Federal Reserve to clarify that integrating climate scenarios into their analysis is outside of the Institution’s mandate.
  • Clawback the IIJA and Chips and Science spending (EV charging, research spending, etc).

Additional Resources From IER:


Taxes and Regulation

The Biden administration regularly bragged about taking an “all-of-government” approach to controlling energy policy through every possible regulatory avenue. The new administration must take a similar “all-of-government” approach to reversing the legacy of damage and market distortion.

Source: QuantGov

Administrative Actions:

  • Withdraw from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
  • Withdraw the EPA’s methane rule.
  • Withdraw the EPA’s power plant rules.
  • Provide Jones Act waivers for the transportation of liquified natural gas.
  • Review the EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (especially ozone).
  • Ensure that the global effects of a rule, regulation, or action are reported separately from its domestic costs and benefits.
  • Revoke Executive Order 14030 of May 20, 2021, on climate-related financial risk.
  • Make clear that the SEC, Treasury, Comptroller of Currency, CFTC, or any other financial regulator may not take action to discriminate against the production or use of any energy source, or take other climate-related actions, without express direction from Congress.
  • Revoke all executive orders establishing an environmental justice framework in the federal government.
  • Withdraw Biden administration’s social cost of carbon.
    • Or reform to use a 7% discount rate.
  • Review and reconsider the EPA’s endangerment finding for carbon dioxide emissions.
  • Withdraw Biden CEQ NEPA regulations.
  • Take regulatory action to match the Waters of United States definition outlined in the Sackett decision.
  • Executive order directing all agencies to eliminate any environmental justice requirements from any regulations, contract tendering, employment, etc.
  • Executive order eliminating all energy and climate mandates in federal procurement and contracting.
  • Repeal the EPA’s “good neighbor” rule that threatens energy infrastructure. Since the rule is currently under litigation, it should be suspended while the agency works to repeal it.
  • Withdraw Biden A-4 circular update.
  • Withdraw from Biden methane pledge.
  • Review endangerment findings for CO2.
  • Withdraw the Department of Labor rule on ESG investing with retirement accounts.
  • Executive order: Review EPA greenhouse gas reporting program.
  • Review the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s “Green Guide” classification of carbon credits.
  • Executive order: Suspend all agency climate action plans pending reviews and cost-benefit analysis.
  • Exempt crude oil, natural gas, and energy-intensive critical supply chain inputs from across-the-board tariffs to maintain the administration’s goal of preserving American energy dominance.
  • Extend all existing petitions and expedite any future petitions for Section 232 tariff exclusions for products critical to the oil and natural gas industry that cannot be sourced domestically to meet the required procurement specifications.

Additional Resources From IER:

Legislative Actions:

  • Repeal the methane tax.
  • Pass the REINS Act.
  • Reform NRC, and appoint commissioners, so that new nuclear generation has a regulatory path consistent with development, not obstruction.
  • Reduce the corporate tax rate below 20%.
  • FOIA reform:
    • Reform the Foreseeable Harm Standard – Federal agencies often cite the “deliberative process” privilege to redact substantial information from public records. Congress can improve this standard by mandating that agencies consider specific factors when evaluating potential harm from disclosure.
    • Ensure systematic preservation and searches of text messages, emails, calendars, and other communications.
    • Subject government contractors to FOIA when they are engaged in public functions.
    • Prevent infinite delays by consults.

Additional resources from IER:


Permitting Reform

It is far too expensive and time-consuming to build just about anything in America, but energy infrastructure and development are particularly difficult. The Biden administration exacerbated this by throwing up every administrative hurdle they could conceive. Reversing the Biden administration’s actions is immediately necessary, but Congress must also undertake some serious work to reform the statutes that govern the permitting process.

Source: Office of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy

Administrative Actions: 

  • Appoint FERC commissioners that will withdraw the proposed pipeline rule and transmission rule.
  • Resume permitting approvals for LNG exports.
  • The Army Corps of Engineers should complete its environmental review for the Line 5 project in Michigan and grant the project a permit to proceed.
  • Review permitting requirements for new and expanding refineries.
  • Reform the water permitting process to make clear that state input cannot be an automatic veto.

Additional Resources From IER:

Legislative Actions: 

  • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reform:
    • Repeal the Biden administration’s NEPA Phase 1 and Phase 2 rulemakings and replace them with updated guidance consistent with economic growth and the rule of law.
    • Recognize that the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) does not have the statutory authority to create binding NEPA regulations for other federal agencies.
      • Rescind CEQ’s NEPA regulations wholesale and rely on the individual agencies to individually promulgate NEPA regulations as may be required.
    • The consideration of the Social Cost of Carbon analysis is inappropriate and should not be used in the development of environmental documents under NEPA.
    • Remove controlled burns on federal lands from the list of major federal actions for NEPA.
  • Endangered Species Act (ESA) reform:
    • Clarify that habitat modification is not the “taking” of a species under the ESA. The ESA defines “take” to mean “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.” That should be the definition and not adverse habitat modification. ESA should be for species protection, not to control land use.
    • The Fish and Wildlife Service should repeal the FWS-NMFS regulations on “foreseeable future” (Section 4), “critical habitat” (Section 7), and the blanket application of the Section 4(d) rule.
  • Eliminate the need for cross-border permitting for pipelines.
  • Litigation reform (standing, payment of court fees).
  • Review permitting requirements for new/expanding refineries.
  • Reform the water permitting process to make clear state input cannot be an automatic veto.
  • Revoke Interior Secretary Order 3398 reinstating American Energy Dominance as a national goal.

Additional Resources From IER:


Conclusion

IER’s recommendations are grounded in several core principles:

Free Markets: History has demonstrated that private property rights, market competition, and the rule of law are essential to providing affordable energy, enhancing living standards, and fostering a cleaner environment.

Objective Science: Public policy, especially in the realm of environmental issues, should be driven by objective, evidence-based science, rather than emotional appeals or speculative scenarios that often lead to counterproductive government interventions.

Public Policy Tradeoffs: Policies that aim to address market failures in the energy sector must also account for the potential for government failure. It is critical to recognize that government actions, influenced by politics and bureaucracy, rarely mirror the idealized outcomes envisioned by policy advocates.

Efficient Outcomes: Policy decisions should consider the interests of energy consumers, producers, and taxpayers in a balanced and efficient manner, seeking outcomes that benefit all stakeholders.

Impartial and Unbiased: Government policies should be transparent, simple, and technology-neutral. This approach will encourage investment in the energy sector and drive innovation

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Prepared by Kenny Stein, Vice President of Policy | [email protected]

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Download The Full American Energy Blueprint Here

________

Print Ready Version Available For Download  Here

The Unregulated Podcast #214: The Golden Age: Episode 1

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna discuss the Trump administration’s busy first week and the subsequent shake-ups happening in the world of energy.

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California Struggling Under Newsom’s EV Mandate

The wildfires in Los Angeles have made people realize that electric vehicles (EVs) are not reliable because of the inability to charge EVs during a power outage. Power outages have resulted from high winds, and L.A.’s wildfires have magnified the grid destruction. If your only vehicle is electric and only charged to a fraction of the battery’s range when evacuation orders come, you may be in serious trouble getting to a safe destination, as Californians are now figuring out. Evacuees can expect EV stations to have massive lines and delays and may not even have power if the electric grid cannot supply it. Furthermore, power companies can turn off their power to avoid sparking a fire and legal liability. None of this is the case with gasoline-powered cars, whose sales Governor Newsom is totally outlawing by 2035 with increasing EV sales mandates beginning next year.

If Not Electric Vehicles, Then What

As EV owners are finding out, electric vehicles require a “lifestyle change,” which includes setting up a home charger that may require an electrical upgrade, calculating routes for longer distance travel to find where charging is available, and searching for working public chargers when charging stations are jammed or chargers are inoperable, which is often happening.

Many Californians, still environmentally conscious and burdened by the state’s high gas prices, are turning to hybrid vehicles. According to automobile data company Edmunds, hybrid sales were up 63% in 2023 and 29% in 2024, to 1.8 million vehicles. For the same years, EV sales were up a lower amount—34% and 13%, respectively, to 1.2 million vehicles—and down from a 45% growth rate in 2022.

Most big auto companies are turning their focus to hybrids. Ford has slowed its EV rollouts in favor of hybrid vehicles. Nearly 25% of Ford F-150 pickup sales are hybrids. Hyundai, whose Ioniq 5 and other mid-priced electric cars are selling well, recently introduced the Hyundai Way program that offers an array of powertrains emphasizing hybrids and plug-in hybrids. Hyundai hybrid sales were up 46% in 2024, while EV sales rose at a lower rate—28%. Auto companies predict faster EV growth in the future as drivers become more comfortable with EV infrastructure, but, in the meantime, they are meeting consumer demand for hybrids.

New hybrid models are coming online in 2025, both traditional hybrids and plug-ins. Both types combine a small car battery with an internal combustion engine, achieving better gasoline mileage under certain traveling conditions. A traditional hybrid does not need to be plugged in because it uses a gasoline engine to recharge. A plug-in hybrid has a larger battery—typically 30 to 50 miles in range—and can be charged overnight with a regular 110-volt home outlet. It can run solely on the battery until depleted, and the combustion engine takes over, extending the driving range using gasoline.

Other Issues Come with Politically Acceptable Electric Infrastructure

How electricity is generated to fuel electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids is also an issue. Newsom has increased California mandates for “green energy,” much of which is weather-driven and intermittent wind and solar power, which needs as backup expensive but politically favored storage batteries. Recently, a fire broke out at a battery storage facility in Monterey County that the company claims is the largest in the world, requiring the county sheriff to order evacuation and closure of surrounding streets. The storage facility, completed in 2023, stores 750 megawatts of excess generation when it is available. The energy from the storage battery is released at a later time when the sun is not shining, and the wind is not blowing. In 2021, the battery complex also suffered damage from a malfunctioning heat detector, and in 2022, a small fire broke out at an adjoining battery plant owned by Pacific Gas & Electric.

Clearly, safety is an issue with three storage battery fires in three years. Those concerns fueled a ballot measure last year in Morro Bay to block Vistra, the battery company, from getting local permits to construct a battery facility near a power plant. Despite the measure passing in November, the project is going through a fast-tracked California permitting process because it is politically favored.

Conclusion

Wildfires and power outages in Los Angeles have made Californians think twice about owning a full-fledged electric vehicle because they are worried about the ability to fully charge their vehicles amidst high winds and wildfires and the ability to evacuate if their electric vehicle is not fully charged. Instead, they are looking for hybrid vehicles like many other Americans. U.S. hybrid sales are up more than EV sales, as they allow drivers flexibility in fuel choice while allowing the EV infrastructure to develop. Automakers are also focusing on hybrids, with more hybrid models coming out in 2025.


*This article was adapted from content originally published by the Institute for Energy Research.

President Trump Delivers A Whirlwind Of Day One Actions Unleashing American Energy

President Trump signed 200 executive orders on his first day in office–some in front of his many supporters in the Capital One Arena and others during a press conference in the Oval Office.  He is mandating that the federal workforce return to their offices rather than working from home or other remote facilities and begin work on his agenda, in some cases, providing specific dates for reporting back on progress. His first-day executive orders included many on energy, including declaring a national energy emergency, opening Alaska to energy development that his predecessor had precluded, revoking Biden’s electric vehicle goals, any reviewing onshore and offshore wind energy, and withdrawing the United States from the U.N. Paris Accord that fueled much of Biden’s climate agenda. President Trump rightly wants energy markets to be allowed to work and consumers to decide what vehicle, appliance, or heating source is best for their needs.

Executive Order Declaring a National Energy Emergency

President Trump declared a ‘national energy emergency’ to bolster domestic fossil fuel production and reduce energy costs. This initiative is part of his administration’s agenda to overturn policies that prioritized green energy above more affordable and reliable alternatives. The national energy emergency will allow Trump to use executive powers to roll back Biden’s regulations, develop new energy infrastructure, and lower consumer energy prices. By declaring an emergency, the government can use special powers, such as the Defense Production Act, to speed up the production and distribution of energy, prioritizing energy projects and resources. This will help projects meet rapidly increasing electricity demand, which is being made worse by policies promoting intermittent renewable energy, which is leading to skyrocketing electricity rates in places such as California.

Alaska’s Executive Order

This executive order supports further progress on the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project, removes resource restrictions within the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska (NPR-A) and other parts of the state, protects Alaskans’ hunting and trapping rights on federal lands, restores unlawfully canceled oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), advances the Ambler Access Project and the King Cove Road allowing residents access to medical care, revokes Biden administration regulations that imposed the 2001 Roadless Rule on Alaska and removes hurdles preventing Alaska Native people from receiving the lands they are due.

Executive Order to Cut Environmental Regulations

President Trump signed an executive order focused on reducing regulatory burdens, particularly those related to electric vehicles and household efficiency standards. The order seeks to streamline the approval process for energy projects and eliminate what the administration views as unnecessary red tape. The order lifts the moratorium on new licenses to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), directing the U.S. Department of Energy to resume processing applications for new LNG export permits, reversing the pause implemented by former President Biden in early 2024.

Executive Order to Withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement

President Trump signed an executive order directing the United States to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, which will relieve the United States from the international climate commitments that the Biden administration used to support its climate agenda that are economically burdensome. He noted that U.S. citizens bear much of the cost and burden of the agreement while China and others are free to produce energy unencumbered by U.N. strictures. The withdrawal process will take one year.

Executive Order on Wind Energy

President Trump’s executive order on wind energy, titled “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of The Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects,” deals with both offshore and onshore wind on federal lands and waters. President Trump ordered all federal agencies to immediately assess “the environmental impact of onshore and offshore wind projects upon wildlife, including, but not limited to, birds and marine mammals.” Under the Biden Administration, agencies were ordered to speed up the deployment of wind projects on federal lands and waters, and fees were reduced by as much as 80% for using federal lands for such purposes. 

It also addressed “the impacts on ocean currents and wind patterns, effects on energy costs for Americans –- especially those who can least afford it –and to ensure that the United States is able to maintain a robust fishing industry for future generations.” Offshore wind is extremely expensive—over 3 times the cost of onshore wind and over double the cost of gas combined cycle technology. Further, these cost estimates do not account for the need for backup power when the wind does not blow. The politically preferred backup technology is very expensive and huge batteries, whose facilities have caught on fire in California and Arizona.

Existing leases are not affected outright, but they are under review. The order states that the “Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Attorney General, as needed, shall conduct a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases, identifying any legal bases for such removal, and submit a report with recommendations to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy.”

The executive order would halt the development of the controversial 1,200-megawatt Lava Ridge wind project in Idaho. The project, slated to be built on federal land near the Minidoka National Historic Site, has fierce opposition from both the government and the Japanese-American community in Idaho. The project spans 104,000 acres and includes 241 turbines with a maximum height of 660 feet. Opponents are concerned about its effects on recreation, ranching, wildlife, and the preservation of Minidoka National Historic Site—a site of a former incarceration camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Conclusion

President Trump had a very busy day on January 20, 2025, for his inauguration festivities and to begin reversing the disastrous energy policies of the Biden administration. He issued 200 executive orders, many geared toward increasing affordable and reliable energy for American consumers and allowing them to choose the vehicle and the appliances that best support their needs. President Trump recognizes that the best path forward is to allow markets to determine the most economical, efficient, and reliable energy sources for American consumers and businesses. Many Biden policies that need to be overturned will not be as easy as writing an executive order. Still, his administration is well on its way toward the goal with the right direction clearly outlined in his 200 executive orders. The new president managed to accomplish this after his inauguration at noon, signing many executive orders at the Capitol One Arena, where inaugural celebrants were gathered after extreme cold forced the first indoor inaugural since Ronald Reagan’s second one in 1985.


*This article was adapted from content originally published by the Institute for Energy Research.

AEA Applauds Day One Agenda

WASHINGTON DC (1/20/25) – On his first day in office, President Trump began the long process of reversing the Biden administration’s war on American energy by issuing several executive orders and directives related to energy. President Trump’s “Day One” agenda includes withdrawing from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and revoking the U.S. International Climate Finance Plan. He also rescinded several Biden-era executive orders, many of which limited energy development in the United States.

American Energy Alliance President Tom Pyle issued the following statement:

“Unburdened by what has been, President Trump is making good on his promise to immediately begin unwinding the reckless energy policies of the Biden-Harris administration. America is the richest energy nation in the world, and we produce it more efficiently, safely, and cleanly than anybody else. When it comes to access and opportunity to utilize our vast natural resources, the Biden administration has had a policy of restriction. President Trump has promised a policy of abundance. Today, he made a down payment on that promise.

“Unfortunately, there is much more work to be done. The American Energy Alliance cataloged over 250 actions that former President Biden and his team took to make the production of American energy harder and more expensive. We look forward to working with the Trump administration and the new Congress to unleash our energy potential and lower energy prices for all Americans.” 


AEA Experts Available For Interview On This Topic:

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The Unregulated Podcast #213: Sticking it to the Mann

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna discuss the final moves of Team Biden, Trump’s confirmation hearings, the headlines of the week, and dissect what may very well be the last clip of Joe Biden to ever grace the show.

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How Will Congressman Lee Zeldin Help President Trump Make American Energy Great Again?

WASHINGTON DC (1/15/24) – Former Congressman Lee Zeldin will appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works this week to consider his nomination for EPA Administrator. This role will be critical in helping President Trump reshape U.S. energy policy and ending President Biden’s EV mandates. We offer these seven suggested questions for Senators to consider asking Congressman Zeldin during his confirmation hearing:

  1. A repeated theme in environmental policy has been the inability to effectively review and revise harmful regulations. When rules are revised, the process is often held up in the courts.  How will you ensure pro-growth reforms stick? 
  2. The EPA has been repeatedly criticized for using unrealistic and extreme inputs in its economic and climate models to exaggerate the benefits of the agency’s proposed rules and regulations. Will you commit to reviewing the use of RCP 8.5 for the agency’s climate modeling? Will you commit to reviewing the discount rate used to calculate the agency’s social cost of carbon?
  3. At one of his campaign rallies, President Trump declared that he would end the Biden-Harris administration’s EV mandate on day one. Will you commit to ensuring that the EPA will review all rulemakings that attempt to direct the makeup of the automobile market to achieve particular political outcomes?
  4. Did the Supreme Court err in its ruling in the case Massachusetts v. EPAWhat is your interpretation of the ruling and how will that interpretation shape public administration at the EPA under your leadership?
  5. Biden’s EPA initially proposed a phase-out of the ENERGY STAR certification for natural gas furnaces and other gas appliances, but after significant pushback opted to instead update the efficiency standards. High-efficiency natural gas appliances are often the most cost-effective and lowest emissions option for consumers. Will you commit to affirming the role of natural gas for appliances and ensuring that consumer choice is the guiding principle for determining what is efficient?
  6. You received 100% on the American Energy Alliance’s 2022 American Energy Scorecard, meaning that your voting record was consistent with policies that prioritized affordable and reliable energy and consumer choice in energy markets. Can you explain your view on the role of energy in the economy and how that view will project onto your leadership at the EPA?
  7. However, your American Energy Scorecard results varied in prior Congresses, dipping as low as 68%. This was largely due to votes such as those in favor of extending the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and votes that hindered the development of our domestic energy resources offshore. Do you still support those positions, and more broadly, should the federal government be in the business of subsidizing specific technologies and generating sources?

The American Energy Alliance will be scoring Congressman Zeldin’s confirmation vote on the Senate floor for our American Energy Scorecard.


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How Will Chris Wright Work to Make American Energy Great Again?

WASHINGTON DC (1/4/24) Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright will appear before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this week to consider his nomination for Energy Secretary. Mr. Wright will play a critical role in helping President Trump reshape U.S. energy policy, especially in cleaning up the mess being left behind by the Biden administration at the Department of Energy. Here are a few questions Senators may want to consider asking Mr. Wright during his upcoming hearing:

  1. The Biden administration’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management released its Strategic Vision in 2022, in which they wrote, “The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s (FECM) core mission is to address the climate crisis.” They had previously released a statement saying, “Moving forward, a central ethic of our office is that if a non-fossil energy option exists today, it should always be preferred to the use of fossil energy.” We cannot find statutory support for these claims. Rather, the U.S. Code requires the office to work on increasing the energy conversion efficiency of all forms of fossil energy through improved technologies; decreasing the cost of all fossil energy production, generation, and delivery; promoting diversity of energy supply; decreasing the dependence of the United States on foreign energy supplies; improving United States energy security and other important considerations. See 42 U.S.C. 16291. Will you follow the statutory mandates to improve fossil energy? 
  2. The first Trump administration took important actions to update DOE’s “Process Rule” to ensure that the law is followed when implementing appliance standards. The Biden administration eviscerated this regulation as part of its whole-of-government effort to impose regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Will you review the Process Rule and the appliance standards program to ensure that they follow the law?
  3. Just before Christmas, the Biden administration banned certain non-condensing water heaters. The distinction between condensing and non-condensing water heaters (and furnaces) seems like a feature that is protected by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Will you protect important features like non-condensing equipment?  
  4. The Biden administration required “Community Benefits Plans” for the billions of dollars of awards it issued. These plans could require invidious discrimination and other actions of dubious legality. Will you review the requirements DOE has imposed in recent years and included in its awards to ensure the federal government is not funding or requiring actions that could result in invidious discrimination?   
  5. On January 20, 2021, Biden signed an executive order telling DOE officials to make ‘major revisions’ to current appliance regulation standards. These efficiency regulations can reduce the effectiveness of appliances, increase upfront costs, and increase the precious time it takes for each washing or drying cycle. How high of a priority will it be for you to undo these burdensome regulations? 
  6. The Biden administration made changes to the Petroleum-Equivalent Fuel Economy Calculation which may give electric vehicles too much credit. Will you review this regulation to ensure the Biden administration followed the law and the science?   

The American Energy Alliance will be scoring the Wright nomination on the Senate floor for our American Energy Scorecard.

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How Will Governor Doug Burgum Help Make American Energy Great Again?

WASHINGTON DC (1/13/25) – North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum will appear before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee tomorrow to consider his nomination for Secretary of the Department of the Interior. Given the critical role this position will have as part of President Trump’s energy team, and in shaping U.S. energy policy, we have prepared some suggested questions for his nomination hearing.

  1. The Biden-Harris administration was much more extreme than even the Obama administration in trying to kill domestic oil and gas production on federal lands. In FY 2023, the Biden-Harris administration issued 93% fewer leases than the Obama administration issued in FY 2009. Will you commit to leasing onshore oil and gas tracts at a level that meets or exceeds the average set during President Bush’s administration?   
  2. In 2024, global coal use hit an all-time high. The United States has the largest proven coal reserves in the world. Given this continuing global demand, will you commit to continue coal leasing to help the world meet its steel and energy needs?  
  3. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) requires that BLM manage lands to maximize “multiple use” and “sustained yield.” Despite this requirement, currently only 3.3% of lands onshore are leased for oil and gas production and 0.5% of the OCS is leased. Is leasing only 1.2% of the federal estate consistent with multiple use under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act? (Onshore: 3.3% of federal lands leased: 23.2 million acres leased of 700 million acres. Offshore: 0.5% of OCS leased for oil and gas production. As of 2021, 12.1 million acres were leased and, according to the Biden administration, the OCS is 2.3 billion acres).
  4. In yet another effort to shut down oil and gas production on federal lands, the Biden administration made it substantially more expensive to operate, increasing royalty rates and disproportionately hurting America’s smaller, independently owned companies (those who employ an average of 15 people). Will you commit to jettisoning the Biden royalty rate increases as a way to encourage more American energy production and make it possible for small and start-up businesses to participate once again?
  5. It has recently come to light that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was deliberately abused in an effort to halt the construction of the Tellico Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority. We should also not forget how the ESA was infamously used to kill the timber industry by way of the spotted owl, and, along with it,  tens of thousands of jobs in the Pacific Northwest. The egregious exploitation of the ESA has been used countless times to stop American progress. What will you do to stop the abuse of the ESA?
  6. Last year the Biden administration finalized their “Public Lands Rule.” This was designed to eviscerate the multi-use requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). Will you review this regulation and take appropriate steps to promote the requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA)?     
  7. A poll found that 88% of voters believe it is important to produce natural gas and oil in the United States; 90% believe producing natural gas and oil strengthens the U.S. economy; and 85% believe that producing natural gas and oil in the United States helps make it more secure against actions by countries such as China and Russia. What concrete steps can you take to ensure the will of the American people is followed and federal lands continue to be used for energy production?

The American Energy Alliance will be scoring the vote for his nomination on the Senate floor for our American Energy Scorecard

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The Unregulated Podcast #212: Smells Like Victory

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna discuss the first big stories of 2025 and outline Trump’s first moves as inauguration day creeps closer.

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