Trump administration must state its position on climate and energy

The new president must put his cards on the table and tell the American people, and the world, if the US is formally abandoning the energy transition

By John Royall

In a speech to announce the US’ Fifth Climate Assessment on 14 November 2023—a report that was compiled by more than 700 climate scientists and thousands of contributors—President Joe Biden stated that the greatest existential threat to the US and humanity is the “climate crisis”.

In his speech, Biden went on to say, “But it is simply a simple fact that there are a number of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle—MAGA Republican leaders—who still deny climate change, still deny that it is a problem. My predecessor (former and current President Donald Trump) and much of the MAGA Republican Party, in fact, are—feel very strongly about that. Anyone who willfully denies the impact of climate change is condemning the American people to a very dangerous future: climate change.”

A new administration could reverse policy
Now comes along a government—the most powerful government in the world, comprised of the MAGA Republican leaders, the so-called ‘climate deniers’—whose leader (Trump) labels climate change a “hoax”. What does this mean for climate policy and the energy transition in the US? And will the change in US policy affect European policy as well?

The Jenga piece that sits under regulation, incentives, tax breaks and policy in the US, Europe, Australia and Japan is man-made climate change, which will lead to destructive consequences, if left unchecked, to the environment and therefore the global economy, said the Biden administration. Urgent action, they said, is needed to stave off this looming crisis, and what is required is the reduction in the use of fossil fuels and corresponding CO₂ emissions.

The climate crisis was legislated
The consensus of a looming climate crisis spawned the Inflation Reduction Act, with its billion-dollar incentives. The EU government and large companies’ net-zero policies are driven by concurrence with Biden’s statement, and it seems an international consensus has arisen that the climate crisis requires the world to decarbonise by 2050.

Now, the new American president has labeled it all a hoax. Is it the President’s intention to pull out that Jenga piece and have the mountain of net-zero regulations and incentives come crashing down, not only in the US but in the UK and Europe? On 3 January, Trump posted on Truth Social: “The UK is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills!”

The exact intentions of the incoming Trump administration regarding climate policy and energy policy have not yet been made clear. His key appointments do not give much insight.

Deciphering incoming Trump official views
Trump nominated Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy; former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum; and Lee Zeldin, former candidate for governor of New York and former New York Congressman, to lead the three most important energy positions in the new Trump administration. The three have different views on climate change and, therefore, energy policy.

Wright has been nominated as the secretary of energy. Famous for drinking frac fluid to demonstrate its harmlessness, he has stated that CO₂ emissions are not a form of pollution. And whereas in other comments, he has stated that man-made climate change may exist, it is not an “existential threat”, and the benefits of fossil fuels far outweigh any dangers. So, it seems, his view is that the earth is warming due to fossil fuels, but it is not the existential threat claimed by the outgoing administration.

Burgum, as former governor of North Dakota, which sits atop the Bakken, agrees the climate is changing but does not attribute the change to man-made emissions. Still, he has advocated for his state to become carbon-neutral by 2030, largely through the use of carbon sequestration, along with oil and gas production. His comments on the subject have been tempered since he ran for the Republican nomination for president.

And, Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican frustrated at the Empire State’s refusal to develop its Marcellus shale gas resources, or to even let a new natural gas pipeline cross its sovereign territory, is coming in as the new enforcer of air and water quality laws, and the agency which has driven much regulation in the US aimed at climate mitigation. Zeldin has acknowledged the existence of climate change but is at odds with New York’s progressive climate policies, which have blocked gas exploration and the building of pipelines.

These three new leaders in US energy and climate policy all seem to disagree with their boss’s statement that “climate change is a hoax”. Each of them has acknowledged that climate change exists… but then what?

Defining Trump’s policy vision
Now that Trump is out of the campaigning phase and entering the governing phase, it is critically important that he and his administration define for the American people, and the global energy industry, what the Trump policy will be, and more importantly, what the basis is for that position. It is time for the Trump administration to put its cards on the table for all the world to see. Just calling climate change a “hoax” is not sufficient. In other words, is the US officially abandoning the energy transition? If so, explain to us why you are right, and the others have been wrong.

•John Royall is president and CEO of Gulf Energy Information.