The fossil fuel industry pumped tens of millions of dollars into President-elect Donald Trump’s successful bid for a second White House term — and it could begin seeing a return on its investment on his very first day in office.
Trump pledged on the campaign trail to be a “dictator” on day one in the service of accelerating U.S. fossil fuel production, which is already at record levels as nations around the world — including the United States — face the devastating consequences of planet-warming emissions.
Soon after his inauguration on Monday, Trump is expected to begin signing executive orders — some of them likely crafted by fossil fuel industry lobbyists — revoking climate-protection rules implemented by his predecessor and paving the way for new liquefied natural gas export permits, among other gifts to the industry.
Citing “several fossil fuel industry lobbying groups helping shape Trump’s energy agenda,” Business Insider reported Thursday that Trump “could direct federal agencies to approve new terminals to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) and start unwinding restrictions on oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.”
The president of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry’s powerful lobbying group, said earlier this week that his organization is “excited” about the prospect of Trump lifting the LNG pause.
A study published Friday warns that a flurry of LNG terminal approvals would “deliver a windfall for U.S. fracking companies and exporters of liquefied methane” while “extending an export explosion that’s pushing up prices for American consumers while harming the climate and vulnerable communities.”
Trump, whose Cabinet is set to be packed with fossil fuel industry allies, has also said he would immediately move to roll back President Joe Biden’s ban on offshore oil and gas drilling across more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory — even though the law Biden used does not give presidents the power to undo previous offshore drilling bans.
In a statement on Friday, Oil Change International (OCI) listed a number of other actions Trump could take on day one, including withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, an emergency declaration to boost fossil fuel production, an expansion of drilling on public lands, and an attempt to revive the Keystone XL pipeline.
OCI dubbed the agenda “Trump’s day one climate destruction package.”
“The fossil fuel industry invested $75 million to secure Trump’s victory, and now they’re expecting a return,” said Elizabeth Bast, OCI’s executive director. “By appointing fossil fuel CEOs to key Cabinet positions and planning to dismantle critical environmental protections, Trump is handing these companies a blank check to expand their operations at precisely the moment we need to end fossil fuel extraction.”
“As Trump returns to office, we’re witnessing the deadly price tag of fossil fuel industry control over our democracy,” Bast said. “From the still-burning wildfires in Los Angeles to the destruction left by Hurricane Helene in Asheville, to the unprecedented droughts and floods devastating Southern Africa, the climate crisis is accelerating. These deadly disasters are driven by fossil fuel executives who put their profits ahead of our future.”
E&E News reported Friday that Trump “could sign somewhere between 50 and 100 executive orders” on the first day of his second term. One of the first targets, according to the outlet, will be Biden’s early executive order directing federal agencies to take part in a “government-wide approach to the climate crisis.”
Trump is also expected to take aim at renewable energy initiatives, including wind projects and an electric vehicle tax credit implemented under the Inflation Reduction Act.
In response to Trump’s planned actions, climate activists said the movement for a livable future must mobilize around the world and fight back in every way possible.
“One man and one election may temporarily cloud the horizon, but they cannot halt the relentless momentum of climate action,” Dean Bhekumuzi Bhebhe, senior just transitions and campaigns adviser at Powershift Africa, said Friday. “If anything, such moments are an invitation for historically polluting nations to step forward, not with the rhetoric of obstruction, but with the deeds of redemption. The world is watching, and we’ve seen enough bluster, now it’s time for genuine action. The stakes are no longer abstract, lives are being lost every day.”
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