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President Donald Trump has wasted no time in seeking to undo the harm of President Joe Biden's energy and environmental policy. Through his presidential actions, Trump has revoked Biden executive orders and presidential memoranda and taken other specific action that will get the country headed in the right direction when it comes to energy and the environment.

This article is divided into three parts. The first part simply lists President Trump's key energy and environment presidential actions (i.e., executive orders and presidential memoranda) from this week (actually, all are from his first day). The second part details some of the major provisions, primarily in the Unleashing American Energy executive order. Part three lists the Biden energy and environment executive orders and presidential memoranda that have been revoked.

I. President Trump's Energy and Environment Presidential Actions

• Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements, Executive Order, January 20, 2025
• Unleashing American Energy, Executive Order, January 20, 2025
• Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California, Presidential Memorandum, January 20, 2025
• Declaring a National Energy Emergency, Executive Order, January 20, 2025
• 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, Presidential Memorandum, January 20, 2025
• Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential, Executive Order, January 20, 2025
• Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions, Executive Order, January 20, 2025 (This executive order revokes 78 Biden presidential actions, some of which address energy and environmental policy).
• Delivering Emergency Price Relief for American Families and Defeating the Cost-of-Living Crisis, Executive Order, January 20, 2025 (This executive order points to energy and environmental regulation as a significant cause of higher prices).

II. Major Provisions in the Presidential Actions

President Trump's presidential actions have numerous provisions that are important for advancing sound energy and environmental policy. Many of these provisions address issues that CEI has been taking a leading role on for years, such as:

Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. President Trump is withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. According to the United Nations, the Paris Agreement has an overarching goal of holding "'the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels' and pursue efforts 'to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.'" In setting what is called our nationally determined contribution for meeting the goals of the Agreement, the Biden administration set "an economy-wide target of reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions by 61-66 percent below 2005 levels in 2035."

Here's what CEI says about the Paris Agreement in Free to Prosper (our agenda for this Congress):

The United Nations' 2015 Paris Agreement would commit the US to extremely burdensome, economy-wide restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions in the name of addressing climate change. Specifically, it would force reductions in the use of affordable coal, oil, and natural gas that this nation possesses in great abundance and that we depend on for more than 80 percent of our energy.

The withdrawal process is included in the Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements executive order.

Endangerment Finding. The Unleashing American Energy executive order, includes this provision:

(f) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Administrator of the EPA, in collaboration with the heads of any other relevant agencies, shall submit joint recommendations to the Director of OMB on the legality and continuing applicability of the Administrator's findings, "Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act," Final Rule, 74 FR 66496 (December 15, 2009).

While this does not necessarily mean that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will revisit the endangerment finding, it does get the ball rolling on a possible review. The endangerment finding underpins the EPA's greenhouse gas regulation and is therefore critical to whether the agency regulates greenhouse gases.

Social Cost of Carbon. In Free to Prosper, CEI explains that the social cost of carbon (SCC) is "a guesstimate of the cumulative climate damages from an incremental ton of carbon dioxide," and it "is deeply speculative and prone to user manipulation."Our colleague Marlo Lewis has explained, "SCC analysis pretends to be a policy-neutral inquiry into the magnitude and probability of climate change damages. In fact, it is an agenda-driven enterprise…"

The Unleashing American Energy executive order disbands the Interagency Working Group (IWG) on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases that was created under Biden's Executive Order 13990, Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis. It also withdraws "any guidance, instruction, recommendation, or document issued by the IWG."

Further, it includes this important provision:

(c) The calculation of the "social cost of carbon" is marked by logical deficiencies, a poor basis in empirical science, politicization, and the absence of a foundation in legislation. Its abuse arbitrarily slows regulatory decisions and, by rendering the United States economy internationally uncompetitive, encourages a greater human impact on the environment by affording less efficient foreign energy producers a greater share of the global energy and natural resource market. Consequently, within 60 days of the date of this order, the Administrator of the EPA shall issue guidance to address these harmful and detrimental inadequacies, including consideration of eliminating the "social cost of carbon" calculation from any Federal permitting or regulatory decision.

This should hopefully help put an end to the social cost of carbon and other similar abuses by the federal government. Although to have long-lasting change, it will require Congress to expressly prohibit its use.

Electric Vehicles. Americans should be able to buy the vehicles that best meet their needs, be it gas-powered cars or electric vehicles (EVs). However, the Biden administration and some states think they know best and have been trying to kill off gas-powered cars. The Biden EPA finalized its de facto EV mandate and it recently granted a waiver request for California to move forward with its full ban on the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.

The Unleashing American Energy executive order states that "It is the policy of the United States":

(e) to eliminate the "electric vehicle (EV) mandate" and promote true consumer choice, which is essential for economic growth and innovation, by removing regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access; by ensuring a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles; by terminating, where appropriate, state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles; and by considering the elimination of unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies and effectively mandate their purchase by individuals, private businesses, and government entities alike by rendering other types of vehicles unaffordable;

Under Section 7 of the executive order, "all agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58)." This includes "funds for electric vehicle charging stations made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program."

Household Appliances. There has been a barrage of new appliance standards during the Biden administration that will drive up consumer costs, limit choice, and compromise appliance performance.The Unleashing American Energy executive order helps to go after these standards. It states that "It is the policy of the United States":

(f) to safeguard the American people's freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including but not limited to lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads, and to promote market competition and innovation within the manufacturing and appliance industries;

NEPA. Section 5 of the Unleashing American Energy executive order addressed important National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) issues. It revokes President Jimmy Carter's Executive Order 11991 that gave the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) the power to issue NEPA regulations. However, whether a president can even provide such power to CEQ and whether CEQ can issue binding regulations is at issue.

Among other things in Section 5, subsection (b) directs CEQ to quickly (within 30 days of the executive order) provide guidance on NEPA implementation and "propose rescinding CEQ's NEPA regulations found at 40 CFR 1500 et seq." And subsection(c) states:

Following the provision of the guidance, the Chairman of CEQ shall convene a working group to coordinate the revision of agency-level implementing regulations for consistency. The guidance in subsection (b) and any resulting implementing regulations must expedite permitting approvals and meet deadlines established in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (Public Law 118-5). Consistent with applicable law, all agencies must prioritize efficiency and certainty over any other objectives, including those of activist groups, that do not align with the policy goals set forth in section 2 of this order or that could otherwise add delays and ambiguity to the permitting process.

Based on this language, the newly convened working group will be playing a very important role as it implements the guidance at the agency level.

III. Revoked Biden Energy and Environment Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda

The following covers most, if not all, of the specific energy and environment Biden executive orders and presidential memoranda that have been revoked:

• Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis, Executive Order 13990, January 20, 2021
• Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, Executive Order 14008, January 27, 2021
• Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs To Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration, Executive Order 14013, February 4, 2021
• Establishment of the Climate Change Support Office, Executive Order 14027, May 7, 2021
• Climate-Related Financial Risk, Executive Order 14030, May 20, 2021
• Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks, Executive Order 14037, August 5, 2021
• Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, Executive Order 14057, December 8, 2021
• Strengthening the Nation's Forests, Communities, and Local Economies, Executive Order 14072, April 22, 2022
• Implementation of the Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Executive Order 14082, September 12, 2022
• Withdrawal of Certain Areas off the United States Arctic Coast of the Outer Continental Shelf from Oil or Gas Leasing, Presidential Memorandum, March 13, 2023
• Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All, Executive Order 14096, April 21, 2023
• Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf from Oil or Natural Gas Leasing, Presidential Memorandum, January 6, 2025
• Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf from Oil or Natural Gas Leasing, Presidential Memorandum, January 6, 2025