It began early. In a candidate questionnaire in March 2016, Trump answered two key questions presented by the free-market American Energy Alliance:
“8). Do you support a carbon tax? Do you support the Obama administration’s use of the social cost of carbon in rulemakings?
A. No and No.
9). Do you think federal agencies have abused the cost-benefit process to suit their political agenda? Would your administration end the process of underestimating costs and inflating benefits of agency regulations?
A. Yes and Yes.”
And in his first energy speech in May 2016, Trump stated:
“And if Crooked Hillary can shut down the mines, she can shut down your business too.”
“These actions have denied millions of Americans access to the energy wealth sitting under our feet. This is your treasure, and you – the American People – are entitled to share in the riches.”
“We’re going to rescind all the job-destroying Obama executive actions including the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule.”
So began a four-year energy policy renaissance that, despite its shortcomings in certain respects, was the greatest in U.S. history. Sure, trade policies hurt infrastructure-importing oil and gas companies. Yes, ethanol’s political might kept the Trump Administration from shrinking the mandates. And wish that he had done more, such as scaling back the US Department of Energy’s largesse, particularly the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
How about surprising foes and even some friends by pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord? That took guts. And Biden’s lame efforts to breath new life into the aspirational cutbacks will encounter the same practical and political barriers as before. Enormous wind turbines and multi-acre solar arrays are just the opposite of environmental.
A listing of MasterResource posts during the Trump era follows. Of the 30, several or more will be reproduced as Biden implements his politically correct, economically incorrect energy agenda in the next weeks and months to remind readers of the powerful (Trumpian) case for continued primary reliance on fossil fuels.
In reverse chronological order:
Trump on Energy: The Latest, October 19, 2020
Trump RNC Speech: Energy Excerpts, September 3, 2020
Trump: Restoring US Energy Dominance, August 3, 2020
Statement by President Trump on the Paris Climate Accord (three-year anniversary today), June 1, 2020
Trump: State of the Union Address (climate unmentioned), February 5, 2020
Greenwash Not! President Trump to World Economic Summit, January 22, 2020
Trump on NEPA Reform (in his own words), January 13, 2020
Energy Progress: Trump Remarks at the New York Economic Club, November 18, 2019
Trump on the American Shale Revolution, October 29, 2019
America’s Energy Dominance and Manufacturing Revival, August 19, 2019
Trump on Energy: August 1, 2019, Cincinnati Rally, August 13, 2019
Trump Environmental Update, July 8, 2019
Trump at 2019’s G20: Weakening the Global Climate Cartel, July 2, 2019
Trump’s Latest on Climate: Right Again! (re UK’s Piers Morgan, Prince Charles), June 10, 2019
Statement by President Trump on the Paris Climate Accord (two-year anniversary Saturday), May 30, 2019
Trump on Avian Mortality (remembering NRDC’s silence at Altamont Pass), May 20, 2019
Trump on Wind Power’s Problems, April 11, 2019
Statement by President Trump on the Paris Climate Accord (one year anniversary today), June 1, 2018
Trump on Regulatory Reform at Davos, January 27, 2018
Trump Administration Stays on Track on Big Energy Picture (November 1, 2017)
Trump Deflates Paris: Nod to James Hansen, Rebuke to John Holdren, June 2, 2017
Climate Dereg: ‘Energy Independence AND Economic Growth’ (Trump’s EO of March 28, 2017), March 31, 2017
President-Elect Trump’s Climate/Energy Policy: 100-Day Action Plan a Good Start, January 19, 2017
Trump on Verge of WIIN-ing* California Water War Before Taking Office, December 13, 2016
Climategate: Never Forget (President-elect Trump hasn’t), November 29, 2016
More on Energy/Climate from Trump, September 19, 2016
Trump on Climate in 2009 (crony aside now corrected), June 13, 2016
Trump’s Energy Speech: Strong Free Market Directions, June 1, 2016
Trump’s NO to Climate Alarmism/Forced Energy Transformation (very good news from the campaign trail), May 16, 2016
Trump on Energy: Promising Free Market Directions, March 31, 2016
To Trumps credit, his budget request tried to reduce EERE’s funding every year. However, congress did the opposite.