The New Energy Plan Under Trump

Trump states that his America First Energy Plan will, “unleash the full power of American energy, ending the job killing restrictions on shale, oil natural gas and clean, beautiful coal.” Jeff Brady, “America First Energy Plan Challenges Free Market Realities,” www.npr.org (Feb. 7, 2017). Trump’s goal is to help domestic fossil fuel companies. Id. This is almost completely opposite of the goals of the environmental regulations under Obama’s Climate Action Plan, which focused on addressing climate change and renewable energy. Id.

Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, and adviser on energy to Trump, states that the switch will increase wages “by more than $30 billion over the next seven years.” Id. Unfortunately, this claim is false and even though the administration was informed of the mistake, they have yet to correct it. Id.

Despite Trump’s promises to help the coal industry, which often blames environmental regulations for a decline in business, it seems as though the coal industry’s problems cannot be fixed. Id. Christina Simeone, director of policy and external affairs at University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy states, “In competitive markets, natural gas is winning. Id. That’s why we’ve seen a decline in coal, because natural gas is out-competing coal in a variety of metrics.” Id. Since gas is cheaper, the only options that would help the coal industry (like subsidies) would inadvertently hurt natural gas. Id.

 

http://www.npr.org/2017/02/07/513905161/trumps-energy-shift-could-bring-higher-gas-prices-analysts-say