Trump’s US energy emergency order must face court challenges Reuters

(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency to boost drilling and speed up pipeline construction will withstand court challenges but will not allow oil and gas producers to circumvent all environmental laws, legal experts said.

Trump, a Republican who campaigned on a promise to “drill the baby boom,” said the bill would speed up permitting and approval of energy projects to fix America’s inadequate and unaffordable energy supply.

According to US Energy Information Administration data, the US is the world’s largest producer of petroleum and the world’s largest exporter of liquids.

Trump’s energy declaration, among the executive orders he signed on his first day in office, references federal legislation that gives the president broad discretion to declare emergencies and activate special powers. Legal experts say challenging the declaration in court would be futile because courts are less likely to question the president’s judgment when using the national emergency declaration.

“The statute does not define what constitutes an emergency, and so far no court has been willing to overturn a finding that an emergency exists,” said Dan Farber, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

The National Emergency Act can open up presidential powers through 150 different laws, but has limited reach over local laws and regulations.

The real legal challenges may come in implementing the order, which directs federal agencies to check their books for laws and regulations that can help approve and expedite projects like drilling, refining and pipeline construction.

The order outlines review and permitting requirements for energy projects, including the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Mammal Protection Act.

Emory University Law School Professor Mark Nevitt “can speed up energy projects but can affect water levels, endangered species protection, fills the void.”

“There’s a reason those emergency rules aren’t enforced every day.”

Eric Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center, said he expects much of the legal battle to arise over what federal agencies actually do, not the statement itself.

“We expect political appointees to work to implement Trump’s agenda through executive orders and specific agency actions, regulatory rollbacks, new lease sales, drilling permits, pipeline approvals, etc. That’s what makes the fight so compelling,” Schlenker-Goodrich said. .

The emergency declaration could be an important tool to defend those agency decisions in court, providing a national security rationale that judges cannot ask, some experts said.

The order gives the president’s national security adviser a major role, who may conclude that certain regulatory reforms are necessary to protect critical national interests.

“Once you get that certification badge from the National Safety Council, you can flash it at every federal judge who tries to stop on the street,” said Tyson Slocum of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

Environmental groups have condemned the energy emergency, saying fossil fuel-driven climate change is the real emergency.

But some said they won’t wait to file charges until they see what the administration does.

“It’s hard to challenge the executive order in general,” said Brett Hartle of the Center for Biological Diversity. “If they start doing bad things and use the executive system as an excuse, we will be prepared to prosecute,” Hartl added.

David Doninger, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement that the emergency declaration does not override other laws and that any regulatory changes outlined in the executive orders must be implemented through appropriate legal channels.

We are certainly opposed to reclamations that lack legal and scientific support.

While Trump could encourage new drilling by rolling back regulations and pushing for more fossil fuel production in places like Alaska, the extent to which oil and gas production increases will ultimately be determined by energy companies and market forces.

Many energy firms have limited growth in recent years to focus on shareholder returns and buybacks after investors flocked to the sector. Meanwhile, natural gas producers are looking to growing new U.S. LNG facilities to boost demand after they cut production in 2024, as prices have fallen to their lowest in decades. (This story has been amended to change the date to January 22, not January 21, but date online.)