America’s energy revolution under President Trump produced affordable, reliable energy for customers along with stable, high-paying jobs for small businesses—all while dropping U.S. carbon emissions to their lowest level in 25 years.
The Trump Administration led the United States to become the number one producer of oil in the world while maintaining America’s position as the number one natural gas producer. The year 2019 marked the first time in 67 years that American annual gross energy exports exceeded gross energy imports.
To safeguard the environment, President Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord, after which the United States reduced carbon emissions more than any country in the agreement. Under President Trump, the United States continued to lead the world in greenhouse gas emission reductions, cutting energy-related CO2 emissions by 12 percent from 2005 to 2018.
Administration Achievements
AMERICAN ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
Unleashed America’s oil and natural gas potential
- For the first time in nearly 70 years, the United States has become a net energy exporter
- The United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world
- Natural gas production reached a record high of 34.9 quads in 2019, following record-high production in both 2018 and 2017
- The United States has been a net natural gas exporter for three consecutive years and has an export capacity of nearly 10 billion cubic feet per day
- Withdrew from the unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Agreement
- Canceled the previous administration’s Clean Power Plan, and replaced it with the new Affordable Clean Energy rule
- Approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines
- Opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and gas leasing
- Repealed the last administration’s Federal Coal Leasing Moratorium, which prohibited coal leasing on Federal lands
- Reformed permitting rules to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and speed approval for mines
- Fixed the New Source Review permitting program, which punished companies for upgrading or repairing coal power plants
- Fixed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) steam electric and coal ash rules
- The average American family saved $2,500 a year in lower electric bills and lower prices at the gas pump
- Signed legislation repealing the harmful Stream Protection Rule
- Reduced the time to approve drilling permits on public lands by half, increasing permit applications to drill on public lands by 300 percent
- Expedited approval of the NuStar’s New Burgos pipeline to export American gasoline to Mexico
- Streamlined liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal permitting and allowed long-term LNG export authorizations to be extended through 2050
- The United States is now among the top three LNG exporters in the world
- Increased LNG exports five-fold since January 2017, reaching an all-time high in January 2020
- LNG exports are expected to reduce the American trade deficit by over $10 billion
- Granted more than 20 new long-term approvals for LNG exports to non-free trade agreement countries
- The development of natural gas and LNG infrastructure in the United States is providing tens of thousands of jobs and has led to the investment of tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure
- There are now 6 LNG export facilities operating in the United States, with 2 additional export projects under construction
- The amount of nuclear energy production in 2019 was the highest on record, through a combination of increased capacity from power plant upgrades and shorter refueling and maintenance cycles
- Prevented Russian energy coercion across Europe through various lines of effort, including the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation, civil nuclear deals with Romania and Poland, and opposition to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline
- Issued the Presidential Permit for the A2A railroad between Canada and Alaska, providing energy resources to emerging markets
Increased access to our country’s abundant natural resources in order to achieve energy independence
- Renewable energy production and consumption both reached record highs in 2019
- Enacted policies that helped double the amount of electricity generated by solar and helped increase the amount of wind generation by 32 percent from 2016 through 2019
- Accelerated construction of energy infrastructure to ensure American energy producers can deliver their products to market
- Cut red tape holding back the construction of new energy infrastructure
- Authorized ethanol producers to sell E15 year-round and allowed higher-ethanol gasoline to be distributed from existing pumps at filling stations
- Ensured greater transparency and certainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program
- Negotiated leasing capacity in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Australia, providing American taxpayers a return on this infrastructure investment
- Signed an executive order directing Federal agencies to work together to diminish the capability of foreign adversaries to target our critical electric infrastructure
- Reformed Section 401 of the Clean Water Act regulation to allow for the curation of interstate infrastructure
- Resolved the OPEC oil crisis during COVID-19 by getting OPEC, Russia, and others to cut nearly 10 million barrels of production a day, stabilizing world oil prices
- Directed the Department of Energy to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to mitigate the market volatility caused by COVID-19
SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT
Took strong action to protect the environment and ensure clean air and clean water
- Took action to protect vulnerable Americans from being exposed to lead and copper in drinking water and finalized a rule protecting children from lead-based paint hazards
- Invested over $38 billion in clean water infrastructure
- In 2019, America achieved the largest decline in carbon emissions of any country on Earth. Since withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, the United States has reduced carbon emissions more than any nation
- American levels of particulate matter—one of the main measures of air pollution—are approximately five times lower than the global average
- Between 2017 and 2019, the air became 7 percent cleaner—indicated by a steep drop in the combined emissions of criteria pollutants
- Led the world in greenhouse gas emissions reductions, having cut energy-related CO2 emissions by 12 percent from 2005 to 2018—while the rest of the world increased emissions by 24 percent
- In FY 2019 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cleaned up more major pollution sites than any year in nearly two decades
- The EPA delivered $300 million in Brownfields grants directly to communities most in need, including investment in 118 Opportunity Zones
- Placed a moratorium on offshore drilling off the coasts of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida
- Restored public access to Federal land at Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
- Recovered more endangered or threatened species than any other administration in its first term
