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President Donald Trump stormed into the White House on Jan 20, signing a flurry of executive orders, and NetZero Insider reporters were ready and waiting to dig in, provide context and look ahead to potential impacts.
Federal reporter K Kaufmann covered Trump’s inaugural speech, with his perennial pledge to “drill, baby, drill,” backed up by his stated intention to declare a National Energy Emergency ― and then parsed out what is and isn’t in the order, along with analysis from a range of industry insiders and leaders.
James Downing nailed another Day 1 story, Trump’s appointment of veteran FERC Commissioner Mark Christie as the new chair of the commission, along with an early interview with Christie on his priorities. He also covered the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee votes to approve Trump’s picks for interior and energy secretaries, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright, respectively.
In another article, industry leaders told Downing that neither Trump’s National Energy Emergency nor “Unleashing American Energy” orders will address the industry’s top priorities: permitting reform; demand growth from data centers, manufacturing and electrification; and reducing rates.
Downing also reports on a D.C. Circuit ruling rolling back a rule from Trump’s first administration, allowing LNG to be shipped by rail, a win for environmentalists who said the rule ignored its risks.
Finally, columnist Steve Huntoon makes an argument for solar geoengineering ― putting sand or salt in the atmosphere ― as a solution for climate change.
Our curated content begins with some facts and figures, like Yale Environment 360’s article on worrying numbers from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, which has been tracking carbon in the atmosphere for more than 60 years and reports that 2024 saw the largest year over year increase in carbon on record. The likely cause ― feedback loops ― heat waves dry out trees and soil, which then release more carbon dioxide and so on.
That said, other media were just as obsessed with Trump’s energy-related executive orders as we were. Here’s a sampling:
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E&E News talks with a range of legal experts on the likely court challenges ahead for Trump’s efforts to roll back the Biden administration’s environmental and energy rules, which likely will be many and complex. Attorneys general from Democratic states are rallying and ready for the fight, E&E says.
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Reuters finds that Trump’s executive order on withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement might put him at odds with fossil fuel giants, who say that staying in the global agreement to limit climate change is important so they can have a seat at the table to influence international standards and actions.
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Grist profiles the American Conservation Coalition, a group started by young Republicans who want to stake out a conservative approach to climate change. The group has ties to Burgum, Wright and Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick to run EPA.
Read on for this week’s Intelligence Report:
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