This story originally appeared Vox and is part of it Climate office cooperation.
During his campaignPresident-elect Donald Trump had a telling slogan for his energy policy: “Drill, baby, drill“
This statement is symbolic of where Trump plans to focus his efforts in his second term: he made a promise “Energy dominance” of the United States and everything from “new pipelines” to “new refineries” that increase the production of fossil fuels.
This approach marks a marked shift from the Biden administration and puts more U.S. emphasis on oil and gas production than on trying to transition to clean energy sources. In addition to touting the need to increase the use of fossil fuels, Trump condemned subsidies for clean energy investments and called for “ready[ing]“the funds that were allocated for these subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act. His position ignores the role that burning fossil fuels has played in climate change and could do significant harm to U.S. efforts to address the problem.
Several of his appointments demonstrate these goals. He is elected petroleum executive Chris Wright— fracking evangelist — heads the Department of Energy. His name is North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum – who linked Trump to the oil executive donors during the campaign – as head of the Department of Interior and as “energy czar”. He also contacted former Rep. Lee Zeldin – who stressed his commitment to deregulation—as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
However, the administration can only control so much. While Trump may take significant steps to try to increase fossil fuel production, actual growth in oil and gas production will depend largely on the private sector and the economics of the industry.
Still, while Trump faces some constraints, he has significant policy levers he can use to encourage fossil fuel production. Wright, Burgum and Zeldin also have signaled they are willing to implement the president-elect’s vision, which includes changes to drilling on public lands and faster permitting for oil and gas projects.
“President Trump and his energy team – Mr. Burgum, Mr. Wright, Mr. Zeldin – can do their best to make expanded production attractive and relatively easy,” Barry Rabe, a professor of environmental policy at the University of Michigan, told Vox.
How Trump Could Raise Fossil Fuel Production
Trump has two key options he can operate to augment fossil fuel production. First, it can open up more public lands and waters for exploration, development and extraction. Second, it could ease the regulatory processes governing fossil fuel work.
Trump could offer more oil and gas leasing on public lands
As president, Trump will oversee the Department of the Interior, which includes the Bureau of Land Management and the Office of Ocean Energy Management, which manage a significant portion of public land in the country and water. He will also oversee the Department of Agriculture, which includes the Forest Service, another authority that oversees some public lands.
The Bureau of Land and Ocean Energy Management and the Forest Service are the three main entities granting oil and gas leases in public spaces. These lease effectively allow fossil fuel companies to lease parcels of public land from the federal government so they can extract resources from those areas. Once land is designated as available for lease, leases are typically auctioned to the highest bidder.