WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump's April executive order, “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach,” directs the Department of Justice to challenge state-level climate regulations that exceed states' authority. It is one of many orders that communicates the administration's pro-industry policies and intent to accelerate permitting, a goal echoed in recent comments by cabinet members.

The order tasks Attorney General Pam Bondi with identifying and curbing state initiatives that impose excessive environmental restrictions. The administration argues these laws and practices unfairly target traditional energy industries compared to “clean energy” producers, overburden consumers with higher prices and rates, and undermine America’s role as a global energy leader.

“My administration is committed to unleashing American energy, especially through the removal of all illegitimate impediments to the identification, development, siting, production, investment in, or use of domestic energy resources—particularly oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, geothermal, biofuel, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources,” the president writes in the order. “An affordable and reliable domestic energy supply is essential to the national and economic security of the United States, as well as our foreign policy. Simply put, Americans are better off when the United States is energy dominant.” 

The order specifically called out California’s cap-and-trade program, which it charges with “adopting impossible caps on the amount of carbon businesses may use, all but forcing businesses to pay large sums to ‘trade’ carbon credits.” It also highlights the climate superfund laws passed by New York and Vermont, which seek to retroactively fine large oil, gas or coal producers for greenhouse gas emissions, then use those fines for projects designed to mitigate the effects of climate change.

These laws, Trump argues, are driven by politics and are dragging down companies that are vital to the U.S. economy. “America’s energy dominance is not negotiable,” Trump said during the signing ceremony. “We will not allow radical state governments to sabotage the success of our energy workers and industries.”

In addition to highlighting specific laws, the order finds that “some states delay review of permit applications to produce energy, creating de facto barriers to entry in the energy market.” It instructs the attorney general to “identify all state and local laws, regulations, causes of action, policies and practices . . . burdening the identification, development, siting, production, or use of domestic energy resources that are or may be unconstitutional, preempted by federal law, or otherwise unenforceable.”

Bondi is expected to submit a report by early June outlining her team’s efforts to reel in these state laws, along with further steps for ensuring the federal government remains the chief architect of new energy policy.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) praised the executive order as an important reversal of what it describes as unconstitutional overreach by state governments.

“We welcome President Trump's action to hold states like New York and California accountable for pursuing unconstitutional efforts that illegally penalize U.S. oil and natural gas producers for delivering the energy American consumers rely on every day,” says Ryan Meyer, API senior vice president and general counsel. “Directing the Department of Justice to address this state overreach will help restore the rule of law and ensure activist-driven campaigns do not stand in the way of ensuring the nation has access to an affordable and reliable energy supply.”

The API and other industry groups have long argued that states such as California and New York use energy policy to advance their political agendas instead of looking for balanced solutions. Strict environmental laws also threaten economic growth and job creation at a critical moment in global energy pursuit, the groups say.

In addition to undermining American energy production, the state laws and policies outlined in the order “devastate Americans by driving up energy costs for families coast-to-coast,” the order says.

“Americans must be permitted to heat their homes, fuel their cars, and have peace of mind—free from policies that make energy more expensive and inevitably degrade quality of life. These state laws and policies try to dictate interstate and international disputes over air, water, and natural resources; unduly discriminate against out-of-state businesses; contravene the equality of states; and retroactively impose arbitrary and excessive fines without legitimate justification,” the order states.