By H. Sterling Burnett

January 20, 2018 - Elections have consequences, and in the energy and environmental policy areas, the consequences resulting from the election of Donald Trump have been profound.

When it comes to being president, ideas and vision are in many cases just as important as the policies implemented. In this regard, there has been a radical shift in the goal driving energy policy since Barack Obama left the White House. Under Trump, energy policies are no longer formulated based on the false narrative that human fossil-fuel use is causing dangerous climate change.

Trump views climate change as a non-threat to the prosperity and health of U.S. residents. He believes the climate policies imposed by Obama are threats to the country’s national and energy security. Trump ran his campaign, and thus far his administration, with the belief those policies have been hindering energy development and job growth. Under Trump, U.S. energy policy is guided by the overarching goal of promoting American energy dominance, a position reflected throughout the Trump administration’s America First Energy Plan.

The Heartland Institute assembled an Action Plan for the Trump administration consisting of 34 actions and policies that will help, in Trump’s words, “make America great again.” With Congress’s help in some instances, Trump has already accomplished in whole or in part eight of the 13 energy and environment recommendations in the Action Plan. For instance, Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris climate agreement and proposed to rescind the Clean Power Plan, thereby partially adopting recommendations two and five on Heartland’s list. Trump also approved the Keystone XL Pipeline (recommendation 3).

With Scott Pruitt at the helm of Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EPA has ended its use of sue-and-settle agreements, which radical environmentalists and collaborators within EPA have relied on for years to shape energy and environmental policy without legislative oversight and outside of the normal regulatory process. Trump also cleared Obama holdovers from EPA science advisory committees and issued a directive to ensure advisors serving on EPA advisory committees are not receiving EPA grants and have no other conflicts of interest. Additionally, Trump has dramatically reduced funding for climate programs. (The previous three actions accomplish Action Plan recommendations 10, 11, and 12, in whole or in part.)

As a candidate for president, Trump argued the massive regulatory state headquartered in Washington, DC was one of the key factors destroying jobs, restricting economic growth, and preventing America from becoming great again. To remedy this problem, Trump committed to rescinding two regulations for every new regulation enacted. He’s gone far beyond that promise, rolling back 22 regulations for every rule enacted in his first 11 months in office.

Neomi Rao, director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, reports the administration has thus far formally revoked 67 rules, blocked 635 regulations that were being developed, placed 244 proposed regulations on “inactive” status, and placed a hold on more than 700 regulations. According to White House staff, by rescinding some regulations completely, the Trump administration has saved the economy more than $8.1 billion in regulatory costs over their lifetime, or about $570 million per year.

In addition, Trump has removed “climate change” as a threat that must be accounted for in the National Security Strategy document. With Congress’s help, Trump rescinded regulations that would have virtually halted many coal mining operations; withdrew federal regulations on fracking and methane emissions on federal and tribal lands; and opened federal lands to new oil, gas, and coal leases, including previously closed areas on the U.S. outer-continental shelf.

Trump’s other environmental accomplishments include stopping implementation of the Waters of the United States rule (recommendation 6 on Heartland’s Action Plan) and reducing the size and changing the management of two enormous national monuments in Utah.

Any fair assessment conducted by supporters of reasonable energy policies would consider Trump’s first-year achievements a tremendous start.

If the stock market, job growth, unemployment decline, business investment, and consumer confidence are any indication, Trump is well on his way to making America great again, and his climate, energy, and environment policy changes are playing no small part in that.

There is, of course, still much more for Trump to do.

If he wants to secure the changes he has already made in climate and energy policy, for instance, he must withdraw EPA’s Endangerment Finding, which is being used by outside interest groups to force the government to limit fossil fuel use.

If he wants the most secure, productive, efficient energy system the United States can have, Trump, Congress, and state governments need to end subsidies and mandates for wind and solar power.

Trump needs to cut the size of additional National Monuments, as recommended by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, while working with Congress to:

• reform the Antiquities Act to require future monument declarations receive state and congressional approval with 60 days, or revert to their former status;

• reform the Clean Water Act to ensure only interstate navigable waterways and the lands directly adjacent to them are regulated by the federal government; and

• reform the Endangered Species Act, in keeping with the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, to ensure landowners whose property uses are restricted to protect an endangered species are paid just compensation for the public service they are providing.