WEMO 2025 (complet) - Flipbook - Page 47
W E M O 202 5
O U T LO O K
New US energy policy is a combination of sovereignty
and climate skepticism
• Policy description:
√ A sovereignty policy: The Trump administration’s energy
policy340,341, centered on achieving "American energy
dominance," prioritizes domestic production of fossil
fuels, including oil, natural gas, coal, and critical minerals. It
intends to reduce regulatory barriers to their development
by accelerating permitting for energy projects, lifting
restrictions on federal land and o昀昀shore drilling and
promoting lique昀椀ed
natural gas (LNG) exports.
342
Nuclear energy being a domestic energy resource, the
Trump administration has expressed strong support for
an accelerated development of both large plants and
SMRs as reliable, low-carbon electricity source.
https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-review-2025/CO2-emissions
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/unleashing-american-energy/
341
https://natlawreview.com/article/executive-orders-president-trump-reshapes-federalenvironmental-and-energy-policy
339
340
slashes over $15 bn in funding for renewable energy
and carbon capture projects and $6 bn for EV charging
infrastructure. It also intends to eliminate EV tax credit,
aiming to save $2.5 billion over a decade.
√ The administration aims to lower energy costs for
consumers by increasing domestic supply and reducing
reliance on foreign energy sources. These new policies
also address state-level regulations perceived as
overreaching, particularly those imposing restrictive
climate or environmental justice measures348. The
Trump administration has also taken a 昀椀rm stance
against o昀昀shore wind development349. An executive
order issued on January 20, 2025, inde昀椀nitely paused
new o昀昀shore wind lease sales and halted federal
permits for both onshore and o昀昀shore wind projects,
citing environmental and economic concerns and
high costs. This policy coupled with the repeal
of In昀氀ation Reduction Act tax credits could stall
around 32 GW of planned o昀昀shore wind capacity.
The Trump administration is actively pursuing
the repeal of key CO2 emissions regulations345,
including the 2009 Endangerment Finding346, power
plant emissions limits, and vehicle standards, with
actions announced as recently as July 29, 2025.
The 2026 budget proposal, unveiled on May 2, 2025347,
342
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/05/president-trump-signs-executive-orders-tousher-in-a-nuclear-renaissance-restore-gold-standard-science/
343
https://rhg.com/research/trump-2-0-whats-in-store-for-us-energy-and-climate/
344
https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/
assessing-the-energy-impacts-of-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/
345
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/29/climate/trump-epa-endangerment-昀椀nding
346
A 2009 scienti昀椀c 昀椀nding that human-caused climate change endangers human health and safety
347
https://www.eenews.net/articles/trump-budget-would-decimate-climate-renewables-funding/
However, the tari昀昀s imposed on energy products
importation (mainly from China) will push the cost for
consumers up. They are also making investment in
several new energy projects uneconomical.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/
protecting-american-energy-from-state-overreach/
https://www.o昀昀shorewind.biz/2025/01/21/
us-president-trump-issues-executive-order-suspending-o昀昀shore-wind-leasing/
WEMO 2025
In 2024, the EU-27 accounted only for 6.4% of global
emissions339, a small share compared to China’s 33% share.
If not followed by other regions, the Europe e昀昀orts will not
have a signi昀椀cant impact on global GHG emissions.
√ A climate skeptical approach while combatting Chinese
green technologies' dominance. A signi昀椀cant aspect of
the policy involves rolling back climate and renewable
energy initiatives from the previous administration343.
President Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from the
Paris Climate Agreement, halted federal o昀昀shore
wind leasing, and paused funding from the “In昀氀ation
Reduction Act" (IRA) and “Infrastructure Investment
and Jobs Act” (IIJA) for renewable energy projects.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into
law by President Trump on July 4, 2025, signi昀椀cantly
modi昀椀es clean energy tax incentives enacted under
the IRA. Speci昀椀cally, the bill scales back some of these
incentives by tightening domestic content requirements
and foreign entity restrictions and imposing new
quali昀椀cation deadlines, while phasing out others.344
348
349
46
will decrease European manufacturers' competitiveness by
imposing complex regulations and carbon costs (especially
for energy intensive industries like steel and chemicals).
