Drill, baby, drill!

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By Jack Graham | Deputy Editor, Funded Projects

Liquid gold

"We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars," said President Donald Trump in his inauguration address yesterday.

Cue the camera on a gleeful Elon Musk with two thumbs up, the SpaceX entrepreneur who has long dreamed of putting humans on our planetary neighbour.

Trump gave far less attention, however, to the liveability of the planet he was standing on.

The president's first day back in office was a dramatic repudiation of his predecessor Joe Biden's approach on climate change.

In short: "We will drill, baby, drill,” Trump said in his inaugural speech.

Through several executive orders, he left the international Paris pact to fight climate change, repealed Biden's EV targets, and declared a national energy emergency with a suite of measures to boost fossil fuel exploration.

hat includes speeding up oil and gas permitting, lifting a freeze on natural gas export permit applications, and repealing Biden's efforts to block oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and other U.S. coasts.

For Trump, this "liquid gold" will make the United States "a rich nation again". For climate scientists, new oil and gas exploration is incompatible with global goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

"Pres. Trump is choosing to begin his term pandering to the fossil fuel industry and its allies," said Rachel Cleetus from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Will it matter?

He may not have used the same language, but Biden was hardly a stranger to a bit of drill, baby, drill.

Far from an emergency low, U.S. production of oil and gas reached record levels as the president tried to control fuel prices at the pump and stem its electoral impact.

Although Biden restricted where exploration could happen, Trump takes over an already booming fossil fuel industry in the United States. How much further his extra policies could boost production is a big question.

Trump may also struggle to shift Biden's other legacy: clean energy. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has provided billions of dollars in subsidies - such as for solar and wind projects.

The Republican leader has pledged to axe any unspent funds, and has also halted offshore wind leasing and permitting.

But a full repeal of the IRA would require a vote in Congress. This might not be popular with fellow Republicans whose states benefitted from investment and jobs.

We know the United States will continue to drill oil under Trump, and maybe even get closer to Mars. But can Trump stop the rapid rise of U.S. renewables?

See you next week,

Jack

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