Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing
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 prevents new or renewed leases for the production of energy from wind within the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). (The order uses the term “Offshore Continental Shelf,” which does not appear in the statute. The President will likely reissue the memorandum with the correct terminology once the error is brought to his attention.) The memorandum also temporarily halts federal leasing, permitting, and approval programs for both offshore and onshore wind energy projects based on alleged deficiencies in those processes. Those programs cannot resume until the agencies involved complete a “a comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices.”
The memorandum authorizes the U.S. Attorney General to provide a copy of the memorandum to any court presiding over litigation involving the federal leasing and permitting of wind energy projects and to seek delays or other relief from those courts. The memorandum requires the Secretary of Energy and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to assess the environmental impact and cost of “defunct and idle windmills” on the surrounding communities and then submit their findings and recommendations for requiring the removal of these windmills.
Finally, the memorandum implements a moratorium on federal approvals for the Lava Ridge Wind Project being developed in Idaho. The memorandum does not directly impact existing leases of any kind, nor does it prevent new or renewed leases for the production of energy from oil or natural gas, the extraction of minerals, or the conservation of the environment.
Routing More Water from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta to Other Parts of California
In the memorandum Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California, President Trump directed the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior, in consultation as necessary with the heads of other departments and agencies, to restart the work from his first Administration by the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and other agencies to route more water from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta to other parts of California. The memorandum outlines the President’s prior plans for infrastructure improvements and cites the state’s need for a reliable water supply. The Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior are directed to provide a report on progress on this effort within 90 days.
Tapping into the Vast Natural Resources, Energy, and Seafood In Alaska
Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential’s stated goal is to unlock Alaska’s natural wealth and raise the prosperity of citizens and the economic and national security of the United States. The terms of the order are aimed at reducing restrictions on resource development in Alaska broadly, and reinstating previous Trump-era policies.
The Executive Order implements a policy to maximize use of Alaska’s natural resources, including energy, minerals, timber, and seafood, by targeting resource development on both state and federal lands in Alaska. The order specifically aims to expedite the permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects in Alaska and to prioritize the development of Alaska’s liquified natural gas (LNG) potential, including the sale and transportation of Alaskan LNG via the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. It directs the heads of all executive departments and agencies to rescind or amend prior restrictions that constrain resource development on Alaska’s federal and state lands, including orders restricting drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The order also reinstates a number of prior orders and decisions from President Trump’s first term, including those related to oil and gas leasing, conservation programs, and resource management programs in Alaska. In addition, the order requires immediate review of all Department of the Interior guidance designating Alaska Native lands into trust and all public land orders withdrawing lands for selection by Alaska Native corporations to ensure consistency with the Alaska Statehood Act of 1958 and other identified laws. Finally, the order denies a pending request to the Fish & Wildlife Service to establish an indigenous sacred site in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Declaring a National Energy Emergency
President Trump issued an Executive Order Declaring a National Energy Emergency, calling for the use of any available emergency powers to expedite domestic energy production. The order directs heads of agencies to identify and submit recommendations to the assistant to the President for national security affairs to facilitate generation of domestic energy resources, including on federal lands. The order’s definition of energy includes crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals; it does not include solar or wind.
The order instructs agencies to expedite completion of existing energy infrastructure projects and specifically to facilitate the supply of energy on the West Coast, in the Northeast, and in Alaska. The emergency declaration also includes ordering departments and agencies to explore using federal land or eminent domain for energy production. The order directs agencies to use emergency regulations to facilitate domestic energy supply, with a provision that the head of each agency must submit a status report within 30 days. Finally, the order directs the Secretaries of the Interior, Energy, and Defense to coordinate an assessment to identify vulnerabilities in domestic energy infrastructure. The order is intended to speed up approvals for the development of select energy sources and to cut regulations on the development of those sources of energy.
Unleashing American Energy
The stated purpose of this Executive Order is to encourage energy exploration and production on federal lands and waters, and it contains a broad array of provisions aimed at accelerating energy production by expediting and streamlining applicable permitting processes. For example, Section 5 instructs the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality to issue guidance to agencies for purposes of expediting and simplifying the National Environmental Policy Act review process and to promote the development and construction of new domestic energy projects. The order also instructs agencies to prioritize accuracy in environmental analyses, disbands the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, and directs the EPA administrator to consider eliminating the social cost of carbon calculation from future regulatory or permitting decisions. The order requires an immediate review of all agency actions to identify any that may “impose an undue burden” on domestic energy.
The order also articulates the energy policy of the United States. Among the policy positions included are the elimination of the so-called “electric vehicle mandate” and the protection of the public’s freedom to choose from among a range of goods and appliances.
Finally, the order targets several Biden Administration initiatives. For example, the order revokes 12 Biden Administration Executive Orders related to climate, clean energy, and environmental justice. The order contains a section called “Terminating the Green New Deal,” which instructs agencies to pause the disbursement of financial assistance under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and requires agencies to review policies for funding projects under that Act, such as those for electric-vehicle charging stations. Two federal district courts have since issued temporary restraining orders prohibiting the government from delaying or otherwise withholding the disbursement of financial assistance under any open grant or award.
Pulling the U.S. from the Paris Agreement
Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements directs the ambassador to the United Nations to notify the United Nations secretary-general of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, an international agreement adopted in December 2015 by member states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The order also withdraws the United States from any similar climate-related agreements made under the UNFCCC.
Under the terms of the Paris Agreement, withdrawal will take effect one year after receipt of notice, but the order states that withdrawal should be deemed effective upon delivery of the notification. The order does not address the Biden Administration’s nationally determined contribution under the agreement, which aimed to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 61% below 2005 levels by 2030.The order also terminated any financial commitments relating to the UNFCCC, rescinding pledges to provide financial and material support to mitigation efforts in a set of primarily developing nations.
In addition, the order revoked the U.S. International Climate Finance Plan, a Biden Administration plan intended to double the United States’ annual public contribution to mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing countries. The order directed all cabinet officials involved in planning or executing international energy agreements to “prioritize economic efficiency, the promotion of American prosperity, consumer choice, and fiscal restraint” in future agreements.
Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing
This Executive Order rescinds the requirement (established in Biden’s E.O. 13985 and follow-on orders) for federal agencies to submit “equity action plans” establishing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is further directed to coordinate the termination of all diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities. This EO also directs the federal government to terminate (to the extent allowed by law), all DEI, DEIA, and environmental justice offices and positions, all equity action plans, equity actions, initiatives, programs, or grants.
Federal agencies and entities are to provide the director of the OMB with a list of all DEI, DEIA, or “environmental justice” positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures in existence as of November 4, 2024 that have been relabeled for evaluation under this order. In addition, the order requires each entity or agency to assess the operational impact (e.g., the number of new DEI hires) and cost of the prior Administration’s DEI, DEIA, and environmental justice programs and policies.
Recissions of Dozens of Executive Orders and Actions from Biden Administration
The Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions Executive Order’s stated purpose is to retract what it describes as the “deeply unpopular” and “radical” practices of President Biden, including those addressing public health and the environment, the climate crisis, and climate-related financial risks. Many of these recissions are also addressed in specific “day one” orders signed by President Trump.
The order rescinds identified initiatives related to environmental justice, clean energy and electric vehicles, and energy and infrastructure. It also revokes the President Biden memoranda related to the withdrawal of certain areas off the U.S. coast from oil or gas leasing. President Trump repealed all climate-focused EOs from the Biden Administration and sought to eliminate Biden’s “electric vehicle mandate” and push back on California’s ability to develop its own EV requirements. He also rescinded all of President Biden policies on net-zero greenhouse gas emission goals for vehicles and other industries, which he refers to as the “Green New Deal.”
Executive Order, Action & Proclamation Task Force
Alston & Bird's multidisciplinary Executive Order, Action & Proclamation Task Force advises clients on the business and legal implications of President Trump's Executive Orders.
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