Environmental and Energy Policy Recommendations for the Trump Administration

SUMMARY

The Environmental Law Committee and the Energy Committee issued a transition memo to the Trump Administration with recommendations on environmental and energy policy. “[W]e have significant concerns with the recent energy and environment-related Executive Orders issued by the White House, such as ‘Unleashing American Energy,’ ‘Declaring A National Energy Emergency,’ and ‘Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements.’ These Orders will, at the expense of America’s most vulnerable populations, reverse existing sensible policies that have protected Americans from the impacts of climate change and have reduced greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution, and will harm our nation’s precious natural resources. Further, some of these Orders are phrased as ‘pauses’ to the programs they address but, in fact, have frozen funds critical to the health and lives of Americans and our key partners. These pauses must be lifted immediately so that America can be a leader in building innovative energy infrastructure and mitigating climate change.” Specifically, the report urges the Administration to: continue America’s legacy of strong environmental and public health protection; maintain America’s position as a leader on responsible energy production, climate and climate technology; and ensure that all Americans benefit from environmental protections.

REPORT

ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENERGY POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED TO THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The New York City Bar Association (the “City Bar”) has a long history of supporting environmental laws and regulations, as well as clean energy policies that strike a balance between environmental and public health values and economic interests. For the last half century, strong federal laws have accomplished that balance by allowing for sustained economic growth while achieving dramatic benefits from improvements in the quality of our air, water, oceans, and natural habitats. This success has been attained, in part, through a reduction in fossil fuel consumption coupled with growth in renewable energy, energy storage, and energy efficiency.

The City Bar — like the vast majority of climate scientists, Fortune 100 companies, and insurance companies (which must realistically assess climate-related risk) — recognizes that climate change is here, now. Climate change poses a clear and present danger impacting the health and safety of Americans, businesses, and infrastructure from Florida to Alaska. In light of the seriousness of its impacts, we have significant concerns with the recent energy and environment-related Executive Orders issued by the White House, such as “Unleashing American Energy,”[1] “Declaring A National Energy Emergency,”[2] and “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements.”[3]

These Orders will, at the expense of America’s most vulnerable populations, reverse existing sensible policies that have protected Americans from the impacts of climate change and have reduced greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution, and will harm our nation’s precious natural resources. Further, some of these Orders are phrased as “pauses” to the programs they address but, in fact, have frozen funds critical to the health and lives of Americans and our key partners. These pauses must be lifted immediately so that America can be a leader in building innovative energy infrastructure and mitigating climate change.

Rather than advancing America’s energy dominance, these Orders stall our competitiveness in the marketplace of a new generation of energy resources. For example, the Executive Order “Declaring A National Energy Emergency”[4] offers no proof of an energy emergency and ignores that our domestic oil production was at an all-time peak when the Order was issued.[5] Its call for diversity in energy supply is undermined by other Orders that reduce the opportunities for diversifying our energy supplies by implicitly opposing the development of wind and solar projects. This is a rejection of the very concept of a diverse energy supply that would help to meet America’s growing energy demands and sustain a successful national energy portfolio. Federal policy should grow and maintain America’s competitiveness in emerging and innovative industries, such as renewable energy and energy storage.

We are all committed to a strong, viable, prosperous United States, which must be based on fair, science-based and legal approaches to energy and environmental matters. To place America in a position to succeed by creating better jobs, stability, and a healthier environment for all Americans, we urge the Administration to:

1. Continue America’s Legacy of Strong Environmental and Public Health Protection

Our country has made great strides since the time when rivers caught fire, smog shrouded our skylines, and rare, deadly cancers plagued rural communities. We urge the Administration to preserve hard-won progress in the health and quality of life of Americans that has resulted from restoring and protecting America’s environment. The federal-state partnerships created by the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other bedrock environmental laws are essential to maintaining that progress. This federal-state framework provides clear and consistent direction in the environmental requirements imposed across the country, creating the predictability required for businesses to thrive and protecting our families from pollution wherever they live. These benefits require a well-funded and properly staffed Environmental Protection Agency that can enforce our nation’s strong environmental laws. We urge the Administration to work with Congress to adequately fund the Environmental Protection Agency to be effective in protecting the lives, health and safety of all Americans.

2. Maintain America’s Position as a Leader on Responsible Energy Production, Climate and Climate Technology

For the last two decades, the City Bar also has supported governmental efforts at the federal, state, and local levels to address the threats of climate change.  Unchecked, climate change threatens not only our environment but also the fundamental social and economic stability of modern society. The U.S. government has access to a deep well of scientific expertise and can draw conclusions based upon facts, which the Administration must do to maintain America’s leadership in addressing this challenge in the 21^st century. We urge the Administration to encourage responsible energy production, reduce our domestic greenhouse gas emissions, advance cutting-edge low carbon technologies, and help our neighbors in the developing world to adapt to the impacts of climate change, impacts that multiply threats to our own national interests and security.

It is critical to recognize the vast economic benefits that can be gained by continuing policies—and launching new programs—to spur the development of renewable sources of power generation and to lead innovation in energy efficiency in transportation, industry and buildings. More than one hundred thousand new manufacturing, construction and technical jobs have been generated across America with programs that promote the expansion of the now-thriving solar and wind industries in 2023 alone.[6] To continue adding these jobs in America, we encourage the Administration to expand, rather than undercut, those programs. We recognize that permitting reform has been part of this discussion, and it should be given serious consideration. But, to the extent that reform occurs, at a minimum it must be implemented on a technology neutral basis, and not solely to benefit fossil fuel-related projects.

3. Ensure that All Americans Benefit from Environmental Protections

Since 1994, the U.S. has had a bipartisan consensus on addressing legacy environmental injustices, and many presidential administrations have reaffirmed those commitments over the years. The Executive Order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,”[7] which overturns the long-standing Executive Order 12898 that promotes environmental justice, purports to protect the civil rights of all Americans and to invoke the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That Executive Order and other Executive Orders revoking environmental justice policies, however, undercut that very premise. At its core, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in any federally assisted program or activity, including those that affect human health or the environment.[8] The goal of environmental justice is not to provide preferential treatment to any particular population. Rather, it is to correct recognized historical wrongs that have affected millions of Americans, including families in rural working-class communities, who have been marginalized, and to protect them from further disproportionate treatment.

Terminating the environmental justice Executive Orders, dedicated offices, and federal Inflation Reduction Act funding under the Justice40 initiative violate the mandates of Title VI and run counter to longstanding bipartisan efforts to fulfill the federal government’s duty to protect all communities. This duty includes protecting those who are most vulnerable as a result of historically disproportionate siting of toxic waste sites, power plants, highways and other major sources of pollution. It is imperative that environmental justice considerations continue to play a key role in allowing our government to make informed and equitable environmental and public health policy decisions towards a resilient and sustainable future for all Americans.

Environmental Law Committee

Energy Law Committee

April 2025