Trump’s “America First” Energy Plan Leaves America Behind
On the eve of the Senate Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources confirmation vote for Rick Perry to be
Secretary of Energy, it’s important to take a close look at the Trump
administration’s plans for America’s energy future. The administration’s
new webpage on “An America First Energy Plan” is—like much of the president’s rhetoric—wrong-headed, short on details, and divorced from reality.
In fact, it’s most notable for what it doesn’t say — there’s not a word about the clean energy revolution,
a boom in wind, solar, and energy efficiency that is creating millions
of jobs, saving billions of dollars, and even saving lives by cutting
pollution. This misleading plan not only fails to put America first — it
threatens to pull America back to the 20th century. NRDC will fight to make sure that the Trump administration doesn’t succeed at making America’s energy choices worse.
Here’s a look at a breakdown of the Trump plan [in italics] contrasted with the authors' comments on what that plan gets wrong [no italics]:
The Trump Administration is committed to energy policies that lower costs for hardworking Americans ...
One of the best tools at our disposal to slash energy bills is energy
efficiency — but it isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Trump plan. Since
1987, federal energy efficiency standards on appliances and equipment
have saved Americans a cumulative total of $2 trillion on energy costs. Standards set in 2016 alone will save $75 billion
on utility bills. With such tremendous cost-cutting power, it’s no
wonder that federal efficiency standards have long enjoyed bipartisan
support. Leaving efficiency out of an energy plan is a major oversight.
Despite wild swings in fossil fuel prices, America’s electricity
bills and the per-kilowatt-hour rates recorded on them have been
relatively stable and affordable for decades, thanks in good part to
leadership at the state level in support of energy efficiency and
renewable resources. In fact, after adjusting for inflation, U.S. electricity is cheaper today than it was more than a quarter-century ago, in 1990. And in some regions, solar and wind energy are already cost-competitive with fossil fuels, helping to lower everyone’s utility bills.
…and maximize the use of American resources…
In 2015, nearly 70 percent of new electric generation came from
American wind and solar power. Yet these American energy resources
aren’t mentioned at all in the Trump plan — even though many heartland
states,
both red and blue, want more,
as clean energy is helping revive both rural and rust-belt economies.
And let’s not forget that Rick Perry’s home state of Texas is a national
leader in wind energy. Today, more than
2.5 million Americans
work in clean energy, from skilled factory workers making batteries for
hybrid vehicles to military veterans who now scale turbine towers as
wind energy technicians. China plans to create
13 million jobs by 2020 by investing in clean power. Where are the clean energy jobs in the Trump plan?
...freeing us from dependence on foreign oil.
Thanks to strong clean car and fuel economy standards set under the
Obama administration, we’re already loosening the grip of oil
dependence. The standards, which will double mileage for cars and light
trucks by 2025, will also cut oil consumption by 1.5 million barrels per day — equivalent to current U.S. imports from the Persian Gulf. Standards save money for consumers, too — nearly $4,000 over the lifetime of a vehicle. According to the BlueGreen Alliance, clean car standards will also create more than half a million jobs nationwide.
For too long, we’ve been held back by burdensome regulations on our energy industry.
The data clearly shows that environmental safeguards, rather than
being a burden, have drastically cut pollution over the past 40 years
while the economy has enjoyed tremendous growth. As the U.S.
Environmental Protection reports,
from 1970 to 2015, the Clean Air Act helped cut 70 percent of the soot
and smog from American skies while the economy grew 246 percent. More
than double the growth, less than half the pollution. That’s progress.
Meanwhile, due to energy efficiency progress accelerated by appliance
and equipment standards and building energy codes, the historical link
between economic growth and total energy use was broken four decades ago
and has not reappeared. GDP increased by 30 percent between 2000 and 2015, while total energy consumption remained flat.
President Trump is committed to eliminating
harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the
Waters of the U.S. rule. Lifting these restrictions will greatly help
American workers, increasing wages by more than $30 billion over the
next 7 years.
The 117 million people whose drinking water supplies depend on Waters
of the U.S. protections would hardly call it unnecessary. And when
climate change creates international instability, dries up crops and
ranchland, swamps low-lying communities and drives extreme weather that
cost taxpayers $100 billion in 2012 alone,
an action plan is surely in order. The Clean Power Plan aims to cut
carbon pollution from power plants by 40 percent. Efficiency standards
for appliances and federal buildings will play a big role in this, with a
goal of cutting 3 billion metric tons of carbon emissions by 2030.
There’s no reference to back up the wage increase mentioned in the Trump
plan, but studies on the Clean Power Plan have shown that it would
create as many as 274,000 jobs and deliver climate and health benefits worth $53 to $93 billion every year — including saving thousands of lives.
Sound energy policy begins with the recognition
that we have vast untapped domestic energy reserves right here in
America. The Trump Administration will embrace the shale oil and gas
revolution to bring jobs and prosperity to millions of Americans. We
must take advantage of the estimated $50 trillion in untapped shale,
oil, and natural gas reserves, especially those on federal lands that
the American people own. We will use the revenues from energy production
to rebuild our roads, schools, bridges and public infrastructure. Less
expensive energy will be a big boost to American agriculture, as well.
The largest untapped energy reserve is clean energy, including energy
efficiency, wind and solar, because these will never run out. One of
the biggest untapped clean energy resources in America is actually
offshore wind energy, which the Department of Energy says could power 31 million homes
by 2050 and create some 160,000 jobs for American workers. However,
the Trump plan ignores this and other clean energy sources in favor of
opening even more of our precious public lands to the risks of
polluting, energy-and-water-intensive fossil fuel extraction. Oil
revenues are hardly the only way to fund infrastructure — wind energy is already doing just that
for towns all over the Midwest, generating funding for schools and
civic projects without polluting anybody’s air or drinking water.
The Trump Administration is also committed to
clean coal technology, and to reviving America’s coal industry, which
has been hurting for too long.
Basic laws of economics are responsible for the sharp decline in U.S.
coal generation (and consumption) in recent years. The Trump
Administration can’t revive the U.S. coal industry in the face of these
market forces. Energy markets have swiftly moved away from coal toward solar, and wind energy and other lower-carbon electricity sources. The fact is that clean energy now costs less than dirty coal. And that means that clean energy lowers utility bills for consumers as well. A recent NRDC report found
that those states that most conspicuously failed to invest in clean
energy, including renewable energy and energy efficiency, are paying for
it with both increased electricity bills and more pollution. While
workers in the coal sector deserve support and a just transition, the
reality is that today it is the clean energy sector where jobs are
growing, as noted above.
In addition to being good for our economy,
boosting domestic energy production is in America’s national security
interest. President Trump is committed to achieving energy independence
from the OPEC cartel and any nations hostile to our interests. At the
same time, we will work with our Gulf allies to develop a positive
energy relationship as part of our anti-terrorism strategy.
Leading defense experts say that climate change poses a major threat to our national security.
Drilling for more oil will only exacerbate that threat and doesn’t
solve the energy security problem because it keeps us and the world
hooked on oil. The best way to improve our national security is to make
our cars and trucks less dependent on oil. Our fuel and clean car
standards are already cutting oil consumption, saving drivers money, and reducing the pollution that is driving climate change.
Lastly, our need for energy must go hand-in-hand
with responsible stewardship of the environment. Protecting clean air
and clean water, conserving our natural habitats, and preserving our
natural reserves and resources will remain a high priority. President
Trump will refocus the EPA on its essential mission of protecting our
air and water.
It’s impossible to reconcile these words with the president’s
previous statements and his choice to lead the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). During his campaign, President Trump called the EPA a “disgrace”
and threatened to dismantle most of it. His nominee to head the EPA,
Scott Pruitt, has made a career out of trying to obstruct many of the
health and environmental safeguards that the agency put forth.
(Fortunately, he lost most of these fights.) Meanwhile, Myron Ebell, who
led the EPA transition team, has said he’d like to see the agency’s
workforce cut by at least half and its budget slashed by over $1
billion. And the administration seems to be attempting to bury climate change information on government websites and is reported to be limiting the activities of the agency’s scientists.
A brighter future depends on energy policies that stimulate our economy, ensure our security, and protect our health.
An energy plan for America needs to highlight the clean, renewable
energy and efficiency of the future — not the dirty, inefficient energy
of the past. Wind, solar, efficient battery, and lighting costs have
dropped so dramatically that a clean energy future costs less than a dirty one.
More than one-fifth of the entire U.S. population lives in a state with
a goal of at least 50 percent renewable electricity. America is ready
to move forward. Why present a plan that drags us back?
Under the Trump Administration’s energy policies, that future can become a reality.
The Trump energy plan is a bad deal for America. It promises a future
with more climate insecurity, more costly extreme weather, and more
health issues related to air and water pollution. The plan is not in the
best interest of either America or the world. The U.S. has more
productive paths to providing affordable energy and creating new jobs.
America needs a strong, 21st energy plan that delivers the
health, economic and environmental benefits of clean energy and
efficiency to all. Instead, the Trump plan puts Polluters First.
Article at the Natural Resources Defense Council: https://www.nrdc.org/experts/roland-hwang/trumps-america-first-energy-plan-leaves-america-behind
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