Trumped-up “national energy emergency” to underpin fossil fuel giveaway at expense of communities, climate

President Trump plans to declare a “national energy emergency” today, a lie that flies in the face of the highest energy production levels in U.S. history under President Biden in 2024 punctuating seven years of U.S. dominance over global fossil fuel markets. The declaration, which appears linked to Trump’s “remarkably blunt and transactional pitch” to fossil fuel CEOs for $1 billion in campaign cash, would grant himself powers to sidestep community and climate protections and fast-track fossil fuel energy project approvals.

In 2024, the Earth surpassed the dire climate threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius for the first time in recorded history. The nation also endured climate chaos in new and deadly forms, with 27 separate billion-dollar disasters including huge ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles ($200 billion-plus), an inland hurricane in North Carolina, massive flooding in the upper Midwest, and horrible wildfires in New Mexico.

“Fossil fuels are the major cause of—not the solution to—rising levels of power outages attributable to climate-related extreme weather events,” said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center. “This ‘national energy emergency’ is a paper-thin ruse to deepen the exploitation of public lands, communities, and the climate in service of further boosting record fossil fuel company profits. The fossil fuel industry expects to get whatever it wants from the Trump administration, whatever the harm to the public interest. But we will stand tall with people and communities, using every strategy and tool at our disposal to safeguard the land and places we love and hold the line for a better day.”

“We won’t back down from a reckless energy dominance agenda,” said Kyle Tisdel, Climate and Energy Program director at the Western Environmental Law Center. “We had great success defending communities and setting critical legal precedent on climate during the first Trump administration, and we’ll continue to fight for climate justice and a livable planet regardless of what comes our way over the next four years.”

Contacts:

Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, Western Environmental Law Center, 575-770-1295, gro.w1737403409alnre1737403409tsew@1737403409gskir1737403409e1737403409

Kyle Tisdel, Western Environmental Law Center, 575-770-7501, gro.w1737403409alnre1737403409tsew@1737403409ledsi1737403409t1737403409