7 minute read | January.24.2025
President Trump issued several Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda on January 20, 2025, that will have a significant impact on the United States energy sector. Select Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda are described below. The Orrick team will continue to monitor and analyze the Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda.
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order declaring a national energy emergency under the National Emergencies Act. The purpose of this Executive Order is to improve national security by increasing domestic production of energy (e.g., crude oil, natural gas, hydroelectric, and geothermal heat).
The Executive Order requires federal agencies to identify and exercise any lawful emergency or other powers available to them “to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources.” It also requires agencies to “expedite the completion of all authorized and appropriated infrastructure, energy, environmental, and natural resources projects” within their authority.
Agencies must also submit a report every 30 days for the duration of the national energy emergency identifying potential emergency actions they could take under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act (ESA), Rivers and Harbors Act, or Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act regulations, and provide a status update on any related past, future, or ongoing actions. Agencies are directed to use emergency provisions in these regulations “to the fullest extent possible.” The ESA Committee must meet at least quarterly to quickly resolve “any lawful applications submitted by an agency, the Governor of a State, or any applicant for a permit or license who submits for exemption from obligations” imposed by the ESA.
The Executive Order also directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to consider issuing emergency fuel waivers to allow the year-round sale of E15 ethanol blended gasoline to meet any projected temporary shortfalls in the supply of gasoline.
In addition, the Secretary of Defense must submit a report assessing “the Department of Defense’s ability to acquire and transport the energy, electricity, or fuels needed to protect the homeland and to conduct operations abroad” and recommend lawful “authorities and resources to remedy such vulnerabilities.” The Executive Order references the West Coast, Northeast, and Alaska as regions of particular interest.
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum ordering the suspension of federal wind leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf and a pause on federal permitting for onshore and offshore wind projects. The Presidential Memorandum also addressed the Lava Ridge Wind Project in Idaho as well as idle wind projects and pending litigation.
The Presidential Memorandum prohibits consideration of any area on the Outer Continental Shelf for new or renewed wind energy leasing for purposes of generation of electricity or any other such use derived from the use of wind. The Presidential Memorandum also directs the heads of all relevant federal agencies to pause issuing new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects until the Secretary of the Interior completes a “comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices.” Although this Presidential Memorandum does not revoke existing wind energy leases on the Outer Continental Shelf, the Secretary of the Interior must consult with the Attorney General and prepare recommendations to the President identifying any legal bases for removing, terminating, or amending existing wind energy leases.
The Presidential Memorandum also places a temporary moratorium on development of a proposed 1,000 megawatt wind project in Idaho. The Secretary of Interior must review the federal Bureau of Land Management’s Record of Decision issued December 5, 2024, with respect to the Lava Ridge Wind Project, and conduct a new comprehensive analysis of the various interests implicated by the project.
In addition, the Presidential Memorandum orders a review of the environmental impact and cost to surrounding communities of defunct and idle windmills. It allows the Attorney General to stay or otherwise delay litigation related to any aspect of the federal leasing or permitting of onshore or offshore wind projects or the Lava Ridge Wind Project pending the completion of the analyses described above.
The Presidential Memorandum take effect immediately. The suspension of wind leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf is effective January 21, 2025, and will remain in effect until the Presidential Memorandum is revoked.
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order outlining specific energy policy goals and providing agency directives to achieve those goals. The policies include encouraging energy exploration and production on federal lands and in federal waters, including the Outer Continental Shelf. The policies also include establishing the United States as the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals, to support the United States and its allies and reduce the global influence of malign and adversarial states.
The order directs agencies to expedite the review and approval of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, increase domestic mining and processing of non-fuel minerals, and identify and rescind agency actions that impose an undue burden on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources, with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical minerals, and nuclear energy resources.
The Executive Order directs the Secretary of Energy to restart reviews of applications for LNG export projects, and to consider the economic and employment impacts to the United States and the impact to the security of U.S. allies and partners that would result from granting the applications. The Executive Order also directs the Administrator of the Maritime Administration to take specific actions with respect to any proposed deepwater port for the export of LNG for which a favorable record of decision has been previously issued. In a separate Executive Order issued the same day (Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential), President Trump directed federal agencies to prioritize developing Alaska’s LNG potential, including the sale and transportation of Alaskan LNG to other regions of the United States and allied nations within the Pacific region, including the permitting of all necessary pipeline and export infrastructure related to the Alaska LNG Project.
The Executive Order directs agency heads to expedite projects essential for the nation’s economy or national security. It also directs agencies to use all possible authorities, including emergency authorities, to expedite the adjudication of federal permits, including streamlining the judicial review of the application of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Environmental Protection Agency is directed to issue guidance within 60 days on the “social cost of carbon” and consider eliminating it from the permitting and regulatory process.
Agencies must pause the disbursement of funds under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and must submit a report by April 20, 2025, recommending ways to align their disbursements with President Trump’s energy policy goals. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy must approve all future disbursements. Within 90 days, agency heads are directed to submit recommendations to align funding with the goals of this Executive Order.
The Executive Order also aims to eliminate the electric vehicle mandate and rescinds numerous Executive Orders, including Executive Order 13990 of January 20, 2021 (Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis), Executive Order 14082 of September 12, 2022 (Implementation of the Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022), and Executive Order 14096 of April 21, 2023 (Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All).
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum to the Cabinet that represents the starting point for the administration’s international trade policy. The Presidential Memorandum orders an array of agency investigations over the next 60-90 days relating to, among others, trade with China and imports under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The Presidential Memorandum does not mandate new import tariffs or restraints. New customs actions may follow reports from the commissioned investigations, which are due in the next few months.