Inside Energy (https://insideenergy.org/series/trump-american-energy/)
The Trump administration came into office promising to “unleash” American energy, to put coal miners back to work, to dismantle the regulatory “overreach” of federal government agencies. His policies will have a huge impact on energy production, distribution and consumption for the next four years, and we will be watching.
A natural gas boom in the U.S. is changing the power sector in the country. It’s credited with bringing down American carbon dioxide emissions more than any other factor. But, one difficult to control component of the natural gas industry threatens to undermine those gains.
Tax reform is going to impact renewables, oil and gas, and energy overall in the western U.S. Now that the President has signed the final tax bill into law, what does it mean for western energy? Inside Energy helps unpack.
President Trump campaigned on a platform to make American energy great again. “We’re loaded,” he said, at a 2016 campaign appearance in North Dakota, referring to fossil fuel reserves. By unleashing those reserves and slashing regulations, Trump promised, he would usher in an era of “energy independence” and, ultimately, American energy dominance. In fact, on energy and environment, Trump is slowly making headway on those goals, with help from a trio of powerful and like-minded cabinet members.
An increasing number of cities are claiming they will go it alone to meet the emission reduction targets of the Paris Climate Agreement after President Trump pulled the US out of the accord earlier this year. But, how are cities fairing in that pursuit?
President Trump is set to announce a plan to shrink the boundaries of two national monuments in Utah: Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monument, the latter created by President Obama one year ago this month. Trump’s action will mark an important milestone in the story of these two red buttes which has become an outsized symbol for a slew of western issues.
If Ryan Zinke is modeling himself after the Conservationist President, Teddy Roosevelt, then why is he making headlines for rolling back land protections? There’s more of an answer there than you might think. This half-hour Inside Energy special is hosted by Leigh Paterson and reported by Dan Boyce.
The Department of the Interior is outlining steps aimed at increasing energy production on federal lands. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says boosting production of resources like oil and gas creates jobs and enhances the nation’s energy security. It’s another pro-industry headline for a secretary touting himself as not only an avid outdoorsman, but a follower of the conservation ideals of the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. If the manager of most of our federal lands is going find inspiration from someone, it would be hard to find a more appropriate muse. “Roosevelt is generally regarded as the father of the modern conservation movement,” said Whit Fosburgh, President and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “When he was President, he set aside somewhere around like 230 million acres of public lands for the future of people forever.”
That land area is larger than the states of Texas and Wyoming combined.
The Trump administration is repealing the Clean Power Plan. What does that mean to you? Here’s five things to know about the plan, the repeal and what happens next.
President Trump idealizes a traditional view of American life, an America based on industry and lifting up the image of the blue collar working man. And no working man has been more lauded under this administration than the American coal miner. The economics for coal aren’t looking good, between regulations and low prices for natural gas and renewables. Still, Trump has been trying to fulfill his campaign promise to bring back mining jobs. We recently spent a weekend with a Colorado coal miner, for a perspective on the ground.
