Political | Process

Presidents have wide latitude to invoke executive powers through national emergency declarations.

The effort is one of several executive orders Trump will sign when he is inaugurated on Monday, according to the official, granted anonymity to preview the president-elect’s plans.

Boosting U.S. energy production is “the common theme” of Trump’s economic agenda, said the official, who offered few details on the specifics of these plans. 

“The rationale for this national energy emergency is that high costs of energy are unnecessary,” the official said. “They are by design. It is a cause of policy. We can address that.”

Presidents have wide latitude to invoke executive powers through national emergency declarations. While President Joe Biden rebuffed calls from environmental advocates to issue a national climate emergency, he leaned on the Defense Production Act — which grants the president wartime powers to address national security threats — to spur production of clean power technologies like heat pumps and solar.

It is unclear which statutes or authorities Trump would rely on to promote new energy production and infrastructure development. His first administration weighed declaring an emergency to keep afloat struggling power plants that use coal, the power grid’s most carbon-intensive fuel, but ultimately backed off the plan.

The moves come with the U.S. producing oil and gas at a record clip — and more than any other country — and global renewable energy deployment growing at a rapid pace.

The official said the orders would address access to critical minerals that are an essential component of technologies like battery production and manufacturing to bolster U.S. industries and alleviate dependence on countries like China.

“Critical minerals are so crucial to our national security,” the official said. “They are the building blocks of so much of our technology, and that’s incorporated within the definition of energy here and energy abundance and the natural resources that these executive orders will unlock again.”

The official noted Trump with his executive orders intends to signal the start of regulatory processes to reverse the Biden administration’s energy policies.

The official said that includes ending vehicle fuel economy standards intended to drive a shift toward electric vehicles, efforts to promote energy development, mining and liquefied natural gas exports in Alaska and scrap energy efficiency mandates on consumer items like gas stoves and dishwashers.