(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency to encourage drilling and speed up pipeline construction should withstand court challenges but will not allow oil and gas producers to circumvent all environmental laws, according to legal experts.
Trump, a Republican who campaigned on a campaign promise to “drill the baby driller,” said the declaration would speed up permitting and approval of energy projects to fix what he called America’s inadequate and unaffordable energy supply.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, the USA is the world’s largest producer of oil and the world’s largest exporter of liquid petroleum.
Trump’s energy declaration, among the executive orders he signed on his first day in office, invoked a federal law that gives the president broad discretion to declare emergencies and unlock special powers. Legal experts say challenging the declaration itself in court would likely be futile because courts rarely question the president’s judgment in implementing the National Emergency Act.
“The law 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.
National emergency legislation can unlock presidential powers in 150 different statutes, but it has limited reach on environmental laws and regulations.
The real legal tests are likely to come in the implementation of the order, which directs federal agencies to scour their books for laws and regulations that could be used to expedite approvals and permitting for projects such as drilling, refining and pipeline construction.
The order cites laws including the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Mammal Protection Act, which impose review and permitting requirements for energy projects.
“It could speed up energy projects, but also hurt water standards, protect endangered species, fill the gap,” said Mark Nevitt, a professor at Emory University School of Law.
“There’s a reason these emergency regulations aren’t being applied every day.”
Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center, said he expects most legal conflicts to arise over what federal agencies actually do, not the declaration itself.
“We anticipate that political appointees will work to implement Trump’s agenda through secretarial orders and specific agency actions, whether it’s rolling back regulations, new lease sales, drilling permits, pipeline approvals, etc. That’s where the fight will prove most intense,” he said. Schlenker-Goodrich. .
Emergency declarations could be a useful tool for defending agency decisions in court, providing a national security rationale that judges would likely not question, some experts said.
The order includes a prominent role for the president’s national security adviser, who could sign off on reports concluding that certain regulatory rollbacks are necessary to protect vital national interests.
“Once you get that badge of approval from the National Security Council, you can show it to any federal judge who tries to get in your way, because courts consistently defer to national security claims,” said Tyson Slocum of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. .
Environmental groups condemned the emergency energy order, saying climate change fueled by fossil fuel consumption is a real emergency.
But some said they don’t expect to file lawsuits until they see what the administration is actually doing.
“It’s hard to challenge an executive order in general,” said Brett Hartl of the Center for Biological Diversity. “If they start doing outrageous things and use an executive order as a rationale, we would be prepared to sue,” Hartl added.
David Doniger, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement that the emergency declaration does not override other laws and that any regulatory withdrawals outlined in the executive orders will have to be made through appropriate legal channels.
“We will certainly oppose returns that do not have legal and scientific support.”
While Trump can encourage new drilling by rolling back regulations and pushing for more fossil fuel production in places like Alaska, the pace of oil and gas production increases will ultimately be decided by energy companies and market forces.
Many energy companies have reined in growth in recent years to focus on shareholder returns and buybacks after investors soured on the sector. Meanwhile, natural gas producers are expecting a boom in new U.S. LNG facilities to boost demand after production cuts in 2024 as prices have fallen to their lowest in decades. (This story has been refiled to change the date to January 22, rather than January 21, in the dateline)
