What You Need to Know: Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth

By Colin Connor, Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP

On March 28, President Trump signed the executive order titled “Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth.” The order directs executive agencies to “review existing regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources and appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind those that unduly burden the development of domestic energy resources beyond the degree necessary to protect the public interest or otherwise comply with law.” The executive order asks the EPA  Administrator to “suspend, revise, or rescind” the Clean Power Plan." The order also rescinds the requirement that federal officials consider greenhouse gas emissions and climate change when making regulatory decisions and instructs the Secretary of the Interior to lift a moratorium on federal coal leases.

Reaction to the executive order has been mixed. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association chief executive Jim Matheson praised the order for providing coal plant operators “much greater flexibility to maintain more reasonably priced and affordable power for our consumers.” California Governor Jerry Brown, however, said that “Gutting the Clean Power Plan is a colossal mistake and defies science itself.” As with any government action, this executive order is sure to lead to litigation on all sides.

The full text of the executive order can be found here.

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