a trump

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist this week issued the following statement praising actions taken by President Trump in his first 100 days to boost U.S. energy independence and growth.

“President Trump’s first 100 days in office have been a boon for US energy. The President has signed a historic number of Executive Orders to foster energy production and used the Congressional Review Act to reverse harmful Obama-era regulations that threatened to kill thousands of American jobs and reduce U.S. economic output.”  

While on the campaign trail then candidate Trump promised to repeal “needless job-killing regulation” and to put in place a requirement that “for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated.” Trump also promised that under his presidency he would accomplish “American energy independence” by undoing Obama-era energy policies and approving pro-growth projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline.

During his first 100 days in office President Trump has successfully delivered on his promises on energy development through his use of Executive Orders and by using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to roll back Obama-era regulations.  Below is a list of actions President Trump has taken in his first 100 days that will boost U.S. energy independence and growth.

  1. Executive Order Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs. Signed shortly after taking office, Trump’s Executive Order on regulation took aim at peeling back costly federal regulations perpetuated under President Obama. Branded as a “one-in, two-out” regulatory approach, President Trump said that the only way new regulations would be issued is if “we…knock out two regulations for every new regulation.”
  2. Executive Order Enforcing Trump’s Regulatory Reform Agenda. Signed by President Trump in February, the Executive Order to enforce regulatory reform was issued to “alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens” by ordering federal agency heads to designate a Regulatory Reform Office to oversee implementation of regulatory reform initiatives.
  3. Executive Order Requiring a Review of the “Waters of the U.S. Rule” (WOTUS). President Trump’s Executive Order on WOTUS requires the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to review the rule and publish a proposed rule rescinding or revising WOTUS. WOTUS would have expanded to EPA’s jurisdiction to “anywhere water can conceivably flow” thus requiring new burdens on energy operations as well as farmers and private landowners.
  4. Executive Order Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth. Signed by President Trump in March, the Executive Order promoting energy independence and growth required that “executive departments and agencies immediately review existing regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resource and…suspend, revise, or rescind those that unduly burden the development of domestic energy.”
  5. Executive Order Reviewing Designations under the Antiquities Act. Signed by President Trump in April, the Executive Order addressing the Antiquities Act focused on the importance of developing America’s natural resources and ordered a review of national monument designations. Under President Obama the Antiquities Act was used to restrict activities on public lands such as mining, pipelines, and commercial development.
  6. Executive Order Expanding Access to Fossil Fuels. On the 100th day of his presidency, Trump is expected to sign an Executive Order that would open up waters in the Atlantic and Artic Oceans to offshore drilling, areas that were previously made off limits by the Obama Administration.
  7. Approval of Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines. In late March President Trump announced his administration had approved the Keystone XL pipeline and the Dakota Access pipeline, which reversed the Obama Administration’s decision to block the projects, both of which are projected to spur new economic growth and job creation.
  8. CRA Repeal of SEC Resource Extraction Rule (Sec. 1504 of Dodd-Frank). Issued as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, Sec. 1504 required the disclosure of proprietary information relating to resource extraction to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This rule put American energy firms at a severe competitive disadvantage internationally. President Trump in February signed off on the CRA repealing the Resource Extraction Rule.
  9. CRA Repeal of the Stream Protection Rule. Issued by the Department of Interior under Obama, the Stream Protection Rule was an egregious and unlawful example of federal regulatory overreach that infringed on the authority of state regulatory bodies and increased targeted burdens on energy production and distribution. President Trump successfully signed off on a CRA repealing this costly rule, in line with his promise to bring relief to America’s coal industry.
  10. CRA Repeal of BLM Management Planning 2.0. Under President Obama the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a rule known as the BLM Management Planning Rule 2.0 that gave the federal government more authority over land use decisions by state and local governments. The CRA signed by President Trump repealing the rule will give state and local governments more control over decisions regarding land use.  

 

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore