Politics

Trump’s Day One Executive Actions Will ‘Cancel Job-Killing’ Energy Rules

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President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to include rolling back “job-killing restrictions” on U.S. energy production in a list of sweeping executive orders he plans to issue his first day in the White House.

“On energy, I will cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy – including shale energy and clean coal – creating many millions of high-paying jobs,” Trump said in a video released by his transition team detailing executive actions the incoming president can issue the first day of his presidency.

Trump will likely repeal a slew of Environmental Protection Agency and Interior Department regulations curbing coal production and limiting oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands and offshore areas.

Trump’s biggest target is the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) regulation that limits carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. It’s the Obama administration’s signature global warming rule, and one that’s expected to further hamper the coal industry.

The CPP is currently being fought out in the courts, but a Trump victory may make any legal challenges against the rule moot. Trump said: “That’s what we want, that’s what we’ve been waiting for.”

Trump also pledged to cut two regulations for every new rule imposed by federal agencies.

“On regulation, I will formulate a rule which says that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated, it’s so important,” he said.

Regulatory reform is a gargantuan task. The Federal Register has already topped 81,640 pages for 2016 — an all-time record.

Federal agencies have finalized $153 billion worth of new regulations in 2016, but that’s just a fraction of the nearly $1.9 trillion in regulatory burdens the U.S. economy is hit with every year.

Trump’s also going to need help from Congress to repeal a number of regulations already on the books. Experts say there are at least 150 rules Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress can undo using the Congressional Review Act (CRA).

One such regulation is a recent Department of the Interior rule on flaring natural gas on federal lands.

The $1.4 billion rule aims to fight global warming by reducing flaring and increasing the amount of natural gas delivered to consumers. That process, however, could take months.

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