Trump Starts Energy Dominance Drive With White House Council

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump ordered the creation of a White House council focused on steering the US toward “energy dominance,” with the promise of action as soon as next week. 

“We have more energy than any other country, and now we are unleashing it,” Trump said Friday in the Oval Office as he signed an executive order commissioning the panel. “I call it liquid gold under our feet — and we’re going to utilize it.”

The new National Energy Dominance Council will be led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright as its vice-chair. The panel is meant to shape energy policy across the federal government and help mobilize the permitting, production and distribution of oil, gas, electricity and other resources.

Sweeping energy policy changes are already underway, and top Trump cabinet officials flanking the president on Friday announced a series of planned actions to facilitate the flow of US oil and gas. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he would be advancing the GulfLink Deepwater Port project meant to facilitate shipments of US crude oil. Wright said he’d conditionally approved liquefied natural gas exports from a project in Louisiana. And Trump said he’d be meeting with governors in an effort to advance a long-stalled gas pipeline in the Northeast.

More could come soon, hinted Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council: “What I expect you to see, sir, is action as early as next week that is going to shock people about how good it is for Americans.”

Trump has made a priority of domestic energy production, casting America’s abundant oil and gas as a source of both geopolitical strength and economic might. At the same time, the president and top deputies have emphasized the need for reliable, inexpensive electricity as the US competes in a global race to dominate artificial intelligence technology.

We “are in an AI arms race with China,” Burgum said Friday. “The only way we win that is with more electricity.”

The council, which will include other members of Trump’s cabinet, is being asked to develop strategies to achieve energy dominance, including by improving permitting processes and addressing regulation. It’s meant to apply across all forms of American energy, Trump said. 

He charged the council with recommending a national energy dominance strategy, and the panel will consult with private stakeholders in formulating its plans and considering how to address cost barriers. The council is being established within the executive office of the president, signifying its key role.

Trump has vowed to unleash American oil and gas production, making the commitment a cornerstone of his presidential campaign and his bid to lower consumer prices. Top Trump advisers also see increased US energy production, along with extended tax cuts, as key to offsetting potentially higher costs tied to new tariffs on imported goods. 

Previous presidents have used similar approaches to direct energy and environmental policy from the White House. Former President Joe Biden created a National Climate Task Force to chart what he called a whole-of-government approach to countering global warming. And former President George W. Bush launched a National Energy Policy Development Group — led by former Vice President Dick Cheney — that recommended scores of policy changes to promote reliable and affordable energy.

Trump first raised the prospect of an energy czar to help coordinate policy actions during his presidential campaign last year. At the time, some advisers envisioned an approach similar to the climate team Biden tapped to quarterback environmental actions across his administration, said people familiar with the matter who sought anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

However, Burgum sought the council leadership role in addition to serving as Interior secretary, the people said, and Trump memorialized the dual assignment in a social-media post last November. The council leadership position means Burgum will be seeking to shepherd policy and direct actions by his peers in Trump’s cabinet.

White House officials deliberated in recent weeks over how much authority the new energy council should have to chart administration policy, according to some of the people familiar with the matter. Among their considerations: how to staff energy-focused experts within the top ranks of the administration across the National Economic Council and Burgum’s energy council. 

The council’s members represent federal agencies that share responsibility for regulating different elements of the energy landscape. Burgum’s Interior Department, for instance, oversees coal mining, oil drilling and renewable power production across some 500 million acres of public land and the nation’s federal waters. 

The Energy Department manages the nation’s emergency oil stockpile as well as the country’s national laboratories, which are hubs for innovation on nuclear energy, solar power and other technologies. The Environmental Protection Agency regulates pollution from power plants and vehicles as well as oil and gas operations. 

Under Trump, federal agencies are expected to unwind Biden administration regulations that curb oil demand and raise the cost of production. Still, there are limits to how much any president can do to encourage more drilling in the field. Oil executives have shown little appetite to dramatically increase output as they focus on shareholder returns.

(Updates with comments from Burgum, additional details throughout)

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