The Trump Administration issued the "Unleashing American Energy" Executive Order (EO) on January 20, 2025, which, among other matters,
- seeks to eliminate any "undue burden on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources - with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources,"
- directs that in all federal permitting adjudications or regulatory processes, all agencies shall adhere to only the relevant legislated requirements for environmental considerations and any considerations beyond these requirements are eliminated,
- eliminates the calculation of the "social cost of carbon" from any federal permitting or regulatory decision, and
- directs all agencies to immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) and instructs the agencies to review their processes, policies, and programs for issuing grants, loans, contracts, or any other financial disbursements of these appropriated funds for consistency with the law and the policy outlined in section 2 of the EO.
It is expected that this executive action will decrease government support for carbon capture and could decrease demand for carbon capture.
The Unleashing American Energy EO does not affect tax credits provided in the Inflation Reduction Act, and tax considerations are not within the scope of this Legal Update.
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