Brief: Energy Policies in Day 1 Executive Orders

President Trump signed over 40 presidential actions and revoked nearly two times as many in his first day back in office. Today’s Intel Brief focuses on the subset of Day 1 actions with the most direct consequences for domestic energy markets.

January 21, 2025 • Est. Reading Time: 8 minutes

Mobius Intel Brief:

President Trump signed over 40 presidential actions and revoked nearly two times as many in his first day back in office. Today’s Intel Brief focuses on the subset of Day 1 actions with the most direct consequences for domestic energy markets.

Key Intel:

  • President Trump signed three executive orders and one presidential memorandum that covered broad swaths of US energy policy yesterday.

  • As forecasted, directives targeted burdensome regulations, slow environmental permitting, and dozens of climate-focused executive orders signed under President Biden.

  • ‘Declaring a National Energy Emergency’ granted emergency permitting and regulatory rights to several agencies/departments to expedite energy project approvals.

  • The ‘Unleashing American Energy’ executive order outlined President Trump’s nine US energy policies and included directives to: 1) overturn President Biden’s moratorium on LNG export approvals, 2) revoke President Biden’s unenforceable order to make 50% of all new EV sales electric by 2030, and 3) expand support for domestic mining of non-fuel minerals like uranium and rare earths.

  • A third order, ‘Unleashing Alaskan Natural Resources’, extended similar policies towards natural resource development and production in Alaska, including several sections dedicated to reversing or revising Biden Administration rulings on the Alaska LNG Project, the National Petroleum Reserve, and the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Looking Ahead

Day 1 executive orders were comprehensive and will likely be joined by several more updates through this week. While the three orders outlined below reinforce expectations of easing regulatory burdens for US energy projects, sustained supply growth must contend with a) uncertain domestic demand growth and b) limited export capacity.

  • Tariffs: President Trump’s commentary during his signing ceremony indicated that negotiations between his administration and trade partners with an outsized surplus against the United States are underway. As noted last week, tariff threats and US sanctions on Russia will likely put more pressure on partners like the EU, South Korea, and Japan to increase purchases of US energy exports. President Trump suggested that tariffs on Canada and Mexico could begin as soon as February 1.

  • Regulations: EPA methane and vehicle emissions rules will likely be a near-term target of the second Trump administration.

  • Paris Agreement: President Trump signed an executive order to immediately withdraw the United States from the UN’s Paris Agreement, starting the one-year countdown for the withdrawal to take effect.

The latest episode of The Energy Desk includes a segment on the viability of ‘drill baby, drill’ policies, the ‘big thing’ for global and domestic energy markets, and a few scenarios to consider in the early Trump 2.0 administration for the US SPR, Saudi Arabia, and US LNG trade.

The Trump Administration’s Nine Energy Policies

Unleashing American Energy: Outlined the Trump administration’s nine energy policies and directed regulators to identify and remove regulatory and permitting bottlenecks that conflict with these nine policies.

  1. Energy Exploration and Production: Encourage energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters (including the Outer Continental Shelf) to meet U.S. needs and ensure long-term global energy leadership.

  2. Leadership in Non-fuel Minerals: Establish the United States as the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals (including rare earths) to create jobs, strengthen supply chains, and reduce malign global influence.

  3. Reliable Energy for National Security: Protect economic and national security by ensuring abundant, reliable energy is accessible in every State and territory.

  4. Clearly Grounded Energy Regulations: Ensure all regulatory requirements related to energy rest on clearly applicable law.

  5. Eliminate the “EV Mandate” and Protect Consumer Choice: Remove regulatory barriers limiting vehicle access; ensure a level playing field for all vehicle technologies; terminate, if appropriate, state emissions waivers restricting gasoline vehicle sales; and consider eliminating subsidies or policies favoring electric vehicles over other technologies.

  6. Safeguard Freedom of Appliance Choice: Protect Americans’ ability to buy various goods and appliances (lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, shower heads) and promote market competition and innovation in manufacturing.

  7. Separate Global Effects in Regulatory Analyses: Whenever a rule’s global effects are evaluated, they must be reported separately from its domestic costs and benefits, prioritizing Americans’ interests.

  8. Public Comment and Peer-Reviewed Analysis: Guarantee all executive departments and agencies provide public comment opportunities and employ rigorous, peer-reviewed scientific analysis.

  9. No Misuse of Federal Funding: Ensure no Federal funding is used in ways that violate this section’s principles unless required by law.

The ‘Unleashing American Energy’ executive order revoked President Biden’s LNG approval moratorium and tasked the Secretary of Energy with expeditiously restarting reviews of LNG export applications. Other sections in the order include measures for:

  • Unleashing energy dominance through efficient permitting and an immediate review of all agency actions that potentially burden the development of domestic energy resources

  • Restoring domestic mining of non-fuel minerals and instructing the Director of the US Geological Survey (USGS) to update the group’s list of critical minerals, including the potential addition of uranium.

Declaring A National Energy Emergency

A second executive order, ‘Declaring A National Energy Emergency’ expanded many of the provisions in Unleashing American Energy by granting emergency powers to facilitate domestic energy projects, expedite energy infrastructure, identify projects that qualify for emergency regulations and nationwide permits under Army Corps provisions, review Endangered Species Act actions and applications, and identify the Department of Defense’s capability to acquire and transport energy for homeland defense and overseas operations.

Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential

A third executive order, ‘Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential’, directed agency and department heads to rescind, revoke, revise, amend defer, or grant exemptions from any and all regulations that are inconsistent with the Trump administration’s stated policy to efficiently and effectively maximize the development and production of federal and state lands within Alaska.

  • Includes directives to prioritize the development of Alaskan LNG, such as the permitting of necessary pipeline and export infrastructure for the 3.5 Bcf/d Alaska LNG Project.

  • Directs the Secretary of the Interior to take steps to support Alaskan resource projects, including 1) withdraw the June 2021 Secretarial Order halting Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 2) rescind the cancellation of any leases within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and 3) initiate additional leasing through the program.

Halting Wind Leases in the Offshore Continental Shelf

While unenforceable, President Trump signed an additional memorandum for the temporary withdrawal of all areas within the Offshore Continental Shelf (OCS) for wind leasing beginning January 21, 2025 until the Presidential Memorandum is revoked. The withdrawal does not apply to leasing for any other purpose, including: oil, gas, minerals, and environmental conservation.

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