John Jefferson
President-elect Donald Trump reportedly plans to install an “energy czar” to scale back energy and climate regulations implemented under the Biden administration.
Six sources familiar with Trump’s transition team told the New York Times that a series of executive orders and presidential proclamations have been drafted related to climate and energy, aimed at rolling back Biden-era clean energy regulations that some critics argue have hurt the economy.
Other plans Trump and his transition team are reportedly discussing include installing an “energy czar” to help cut regulations on domestic energy production and potentially moving the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) headquarters outside of Washington, D.C.
“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital when asked to confirm the details about Trump’s reported plans. “He will deliver.”
News of the policy plans from Trump and his transition team comes amid speculation over who will staff his various agencies, including those governing environmental policies. The Times suggested that former Republican presidential candidate and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was being floated as a potential candidate to be Trump’s “energy czar.” The outlet also pointed to Dan Brouillette, who served as Trump’s energy secretary during his first tenure as president.
US TO TIGHTEN RESTRICTIONS ON ENERGY DEVELOPMENT TO PROTECT STRUGGLING SAGE GROUSE
“President-elect Trump will begin making decisions on who will serve in his second administration soon,” Leavitt told the Times when it reached out to confirm details about the new post. “Those decisions will be announced when they are made.”
Besides plans to install an “energy czar” and potentially move the EPA’s headquarters out of Washington, the potential executive actions reportedly drafted by Trump’s transition team would pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, expand drilling and mining on federal lands, and would loosen regulations around fossil fuel pollution.
BIDEN-HARRIS EPA FUNDING ‘RADICAL, LEFT-LEANING’ ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS CALLING TO END FOSSIL FUELS: REPORT
Prior to the Times’ report on Trump’s potential energy policy plans, the president-elect said while running his campaign that he would peel back Biden administration regulations intended to cut carbon emissions, and has also said he would stymie green energy initiatives within Biden’s signature climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act.
“The green agenda is an elitist agenda,” Trump transition team co-chairman Howard Lutnick told Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo. “Who is the strongest? Where? The Ivy League on the East Coast. Right? They’re the ones that are [pushing] climate change.”
Lutnick added that “real” Americans are “not talking climate change” but are focused on kitchen-table issues impacting their pocketbooks.
Read the full article here