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Last week, newly minted Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued the particulars of a plan to “unleash” a “Golden Era of American Energy Dominance,” conjuring up images of bloodthirsty hounds run amok. Perhaps “launch” would have a better word choice. Either way, the plan is hobbled by internal contradictions, and by the Trump freeze on federal disbursements.
Here Comes The Golden Era Of Unleashed American Energy Dominance, Not
The Trump freeze is in fact the biggest obstacle to American Energy Dominance. Critics charge that the freeze will cost thousands of energy jobs in the US, and House Democrats have the receipts.
Jump to the state-by-state details here, and let your representatives in Congress know what you think (the insiders say calling is the most effective way to make your voice heard).
As for American Energy Dominance, Secretary Wright is determined to follow the orders issued by President Trump. “U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright signed his first Secretarial Order today directing the Department of Energy to take immediate action to unleash American Energy in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders,” the Energy Department stated in a press release dated February 5.
However, following Trump’s executive orders is going to be a tough row to hoe, and not just on account of legal issues. As pointed out by CleanTechnica among other energy industry observers, the Secretarial Order may follow some of Trump orders, but it conflicts with the one that stopped the nation’s budding offshore wind industry in its tracks.
The offshore wind industry deploys lease areas in federal waters, a system administered by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the Department of the Interior. Without the leases, there is no offshore wind industry.
That is how Trump sank an entire energy industry with a swipe of his pen. “I hereby withdraw from disposition for wind energy leasing all areas within the Offshore Continental Shelf (OCS) as defined in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1331,” Trump ordered on January 25.
Not so fast, says Secretary Wright. “We must also permit and build energy infrastructure and remove barriers to progress, including federal policies that make it too easy to stop projects and far too difficult to complete projects,” he stated on February 6.
American Energy Dominance Vs. The People
So, which is it? Removing barriers to progress or imposing barriers to progress?
While Trump and Wright duke it out, House Democrats are drawing attention to the fact that the American Energy Dominance plan is boxed in by the Trump freeze.
On February 13, Democratic US Representatives Rosa DeLauro of Ohio and Marcy Kaptur provided all the details, state by painfully afflicted state, red and blue alike.
The Trump freeze pulled the rug out from under Energy Department disbursements that stimulate job creation and income in the home weatherization and energy efficiency business along with employment in the electricity grid upgrade field. The Democrats also pointed out that the freeze sucker-punched programs aimed at supporting American Energy Dominance (such as it is) on a global scale, including EV battery and hydrogen ventures, while gutting Energy Department programs aimed at stimulating investment in high-impact emerging industries.
American Energy Dominance Is Raising Bills & Costing Jobs
“President Trump ran on lowering costs and making America safer, instead he is illegally freezing funds, raising Americans’ energy bills, and making us more dependent on energy from other countries,” explains Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who is the House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member.
“By stealing these funds and threatening to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, President Trump and Elon Musk are jeopardizing those savings and could raise the national average annual house energy bills by up to 12 percent. These unlawful actions also put at risk more than 350,000 jobs that support energy production across the country,” DeLauro added.
Rep. Kaptur, who is Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Ranking Member, also took note of Musk’s role in the carnage. “An unelected Billionaire who made his vast fortune off government contracts should not be able to unilaterally stop these programs,” she said. “At a bare minimum, we demand the Department to follow the law as intended.”
How Bad Is The Hurt: Find Your State
To find out how the Trump American Energy Dominance plan impacts your home state, check out these state-by-state charts:
Manufacturing Competitiveness and Investment
American Energy Dominance, Geothermal Energy Edition
To further undermine the whole idea of American Energy Dominance, Trump and Wright are not on the same page regarding geothermal energy, a significant, yet-to-be-tapped domestic renewable energy resource that provides 24/7 baseload power, in direct competition with fossil energy power plants.
Trump name-checked his energy priorities in a press release on January 20, describing his “Unleashing American Energy” executive order. He lists oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources as priority areas.
Geothermal energy did not make the cut. Nevertheless, geothermal rated a priority slot in the February 6 secretarial order issued by Wright. Under the section titled, “Unleashing American Energy Innovation” Wright lists fossil fuels, advanced nuclear, geothermal, and hydropower.
Hey, how did geothermal energy sneak in there? It’s no secret that the oil and gas services industry has been applying its know-how to develop next-generation geothermal energy systems, with a healthy assist from the Energy Department. However, a growth spurt for the domestic geothermal industry spells bad news for fossil fuel producers.
It sure looks like fossil energy producers are on their way to regretting what they wished for. American Energy Dominance, indeed!
The Slovakia-based firm GA Drilling is among those spotting new opportunities in the US geothermal energy business, having established a US branch in Texas back in 2013. Earlier this week, the firm announced a new collaboration with the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory aimed at cutting the cost of geothermal drilling while also picking up the pace of geothermal development.
“Geothermal energy has the potential to revolutionize clean energy production, and this collaboration with NREL marks a significant step toward making deep geothermal drilling more viable and efficient,” GA Drilling CEO Igor Kocis explained in a press statement.
In case you’re wondering how NREL is still managing to function under the Trump freeze, that’s a good question. You can find the answer in the February 6 secretarial order, in which Wright declares that “America must lead the world in innovation and technology breakthroughs, which includes accelerating the work of the Department’s National Laboratories.”
If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread and tell your representatives in Congress, too (there’s an app for that).
Photo: With geothermal energy sniffing at their heels, US fossil energy stakeholders may come to regret their part in unleashing the American Energy Dominance hounds (courtesy of US Department of Energy).
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