January 20, 2025

Executive Order: Unleashing American Energy

Holland & Knight Eyes on Washington Blog
Molly Broughton
Trump's 2025 Executive Orders: Updates and Summaries

Date Issued: Jan. 20, 2025

Executive Summary:

This executive order puts forth a federal energy policy agenda that seeks to establish American energy dominance through a combination of new policy actions, as well as rescinding several executive orders from the Carter and Biden Administrations. These actions seek to support traditional energy exploration and production, reassess regulations that might hinder energy and economic development, revise the permitting process to fast-track traditional energy projects, promote domestic mining and processing of non-fuel minerals (including rare earth minerals), ensure adherence to legislation as it was written, and pause disbursement of funds made available under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Policy Actions

  • Unleash "America's affordable and reliable energy and natural resources" to "restore American prosperity" and energy security.
  • Encourage energy exploration and production on federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf, to "solidify the United States as a global energy leader."
  • Reduce "the global influence and malign and adversarial states" that supply the U.S. with energy.
  • Eliminate the "electric vehicle mandate" by ensuring a level regulatory playing field for gasoline-powered automobiles and eliminating subsidies or other incentives for purchasing electric vehicles (EVs).
  • Decrease regulations on electric consumer appliances such as light bulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets and shower heads.
  • All federal agency/department heads are ordered to review, revise or rescind existing regulations, orders, policies or any other agency actions that potentially burden the development or use of domestic energy resources "with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources." Agency heads in consultation with the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and National Economic Council (NEC) are instructed to develop and begin implementing action plans to suspend, revise or rescind all agency actions identified as unduly burdensome by Feb. 19, 2025.
  • Notify the U.S. attorney general of steps taken by federal agency actions in adherence to the executive order and to request a stay or otherwise delay litigation if such delay would advance the policies set forth in the order.
  • The chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) will provide guidance on implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and any recommendations for rescissions to NEPA regulations deemed to be inefficient to the permitting process by Feb. 19, 2025.
  • Establish a working group to revise and streamline agency-level NEPA regulations and direct the following agencies to eliminate delays within their permitting processes: U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and CEQ.
  • The director of the NEC and director of the Office of Legislative Affairs shall jointly prepare recommendations to U.S. Congress regarding expedition and certainty of the federal permitting process, streamline the NEPA judicial review process and otherwise promote the permitting and construction of critical energy infrastructure.
  • Ensure all regulatory requirements are grounded in clearly applicable law, consider the global effects of a rule, weigh potential domestic costs and benefits, and prioritize the interests of the American people.
  • The U.S. secretary of energy is directed to restart reviews of applications for approvals of liquified natural gas export projects as expeditiously as possible.
  • Boost domestic production of non-fuel minerals through identifying agency actions that burden the industry, as well as directing agencies to use their individualized capabilities to advance this unified agenda.
    • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Interior Department will reassess any public lands withdrawals for potential revision for the purpose of non-fuel mineral mining or processing.
    • The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Interior Department will update the survey's list of critical minerals, including for the potential of including uranium.
    • The Interior Department is instructed to accelerate the detailed geologic mapping of the U.S.
    • The DOE will ensure federal support for critical mineral projects.
    • The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will assess foreign practices and if their exploitative practices are burdening or restricting U.S. commerce. Similarly, the U.S. Department of Commerce will assess the national security implications of the nation's foreign mineral reliance.
    • The DOD will ensure a robust supply of critical minerals within the National Defense Stockpile.
    • The DHS will assess the presence of forced labor and quantify its effects within the mineral production process, submitting a report to NEC within 90 days of this order.
    • The secretaries of state, commerce and labor, along with the USTR and any other relevant agency leaders, shall also submit policy recommendations to enhance the competitiveness of American mining and refining companies in other mineral-wealthy nations by March 21, 2025.
  • In all federal permitting adjudications or regulatory processes, all agencies are required to adhere only to the legislated requirements for environmental considerations, eliminating all considerations outside these requirements, namely the social cost of carbon.
  • All agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the IRA (Public Law 117-169) or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Public Law 117-58).

OMB Guidance Regarding IRA Funding Freeze

On Jan. 21, 2025, the acting director of the OMB circulated a memo to the assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the NEC providing additional guidance regarding the directive to immediately pause disbursement of funds appropriated under the IRA (Public Law 117-169) or the IIJA (Public Law 117-58). The memo clarifies that this pause only applies to funds supporting programs, projects or activities that may be implicated by the policy established in Section 2 of the order, which outlines actions that encourage and reduce burdens on energy exploration and production. 

Revoked Executive Actions

This executive action orders that all offices, programs and activities established within the orders below be abolished. Assets, funds and resources allocated to entities set to be abolished will be redirected or disposed of in accordance with applicable law.

  • Executive Order 11991 of May 24, 1977 (Relating to protection and enhancement of environmental quality). This order amended NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) to direct CEQ to issue regulations to federal agencies for the implementation of NEPA related to environmental impact statements.
  • Executive Order 13990 of Jan. 20, 2021 (Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis). This order reversed the first Trump Administration's environmental rollbacks. It emphasized the need to restore science-based decision-making, protect public health and take immediate action to combat climate change. Trump's order specifically calls for the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (IWG) to be disbanded and for the guidance produced by the IWG to be withdrawn as no longer representative of governmental policy. This includes the practice of considering the social cost of carbon, methane and nitrous oxide in federal permitting or regulatory decisions.
  • Executive Order 13992 of Jan. 20, 2021 (Revocation of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Federal Regulation). This order revoked a number of executive orders from the first Trump Administration that sought to reduce regulations and spending.
  • Executive Order 14008 of Jan. 27, 2021 (Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad). This order laid out a comprehensive and ambitious agenda for tackling climate change, emphasizing the importance of clean energy, environmental justice and international cooperation to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The order began the process of setting the U.S. on a path toward achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 while also addressing the effects of climate change.
  • Executive Order 14007 of Jan. 27, 2021 (President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology). This order reestablished and reauthorized the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), which had been a key advisory body in previous administrations. This body is responsible for providing the president with expert advice and recommendations on science, technology and innovation issues that have the potential to impact national policy and was part of the Biden Administration's broader commitment to integrating scientific expertise into policy development and decision-making, particularly around issues such as climate change, public health and technological innovation.
  • Executive Order 14013 of Feb. 4, 2021 (Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs to Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration) Within 180 days of the date of the order, the assistant to the president for national security affairs, in consultation with the secretary of state, secretary of defense, secretary of homeland security, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and director of national intelligence must prepare and submit a report on climate change and its impact on migration, including forced migration, internal displacement and planned relocation.
  • Executive Order 14027 of May 7, 2021 (Establishment of the Climate Change Support Office).  This order established the Climate Change Support Office within the U.S. Department of State, which was intended to support bilateral and multilateral engagement to advance the U.S. initiative to address the global climate crisis.
  • Executive Order 14030 of May 20, 2021 (Climate-Related Financial Risk). The order sought to establish frameworks to assess climate-related financial risks, enhance transparency and encourage the disclosure of such risks by financial institutions and companies.
  • Executive Order 14037 of August 5, 2021 (Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks). This order sought to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles in the U.S., with a focus on expanding the adoption of EVs to reduce GHG emissions from the transport sector. The order set targets for increasing the share of EVs on the road, strengthening vehicle emission standards and promoting the development of a nationwide network of charging infrastructure.
  • Executive Order 14057 of Dec. 8, 2021 (Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability). This order sought to advance the federal government's efforts to combat climate change and promote environmental sustainability by making the federal government a leader in clean energy and sustainable practices. The order reduced the federal government's carbon footprint and accelerated the adoption of clean energy technologies and practices across federal agencies.
  • Executive Order 14072 of April 22, 2022 (Strengthening the Nation's Forests, Communities, and Local Economies). This order directs federal agencies to pursue science-based, sustainable forest and land management, conserve America's mature and old-growth forests on federal lands, invest in forest health and restoration, support indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and cultural and subsistence practices, honor Tribal treaty rights, and deploy climate-smart forestry practices and other nature-based solutions to improve the resilience of the nation's lands, waters, wildlife and communities in the face of increasing disturbances and chronic stress arising from climate impacts.
  • Executive Order 14082 of Sept. 12, 2022 (Implementation of the Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022). This order supported the implementation of the IRA to ensure a smooth rollout, including through the creation of the White House Office on Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation.
  • Executive Order 14096 of April 21, 2023 (Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All). This order sought to strengthen the government's commitment to environmental justice by addressing the disproportionate environmental harms and public health impacts faced by underserved communities. The order established the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (EJ Council) as the entity responsible for coordinating and overseeing the federal government's environmental justice efforts.

Trump's 2025 Executive Orders: Updates and Summaries

Holland & Knight's Public Policy & Regulation Group is reviewing President Trump's 2025 Executive Orders and other actions. To read all Executive Order Updates and Summaries, visit our landing page.

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