{"id":24407,"date":"2025-02-14T11:25:34","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T16:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/?p=24407"},"modified":"2025-02-14T11:25:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T16:25:34","slug":"demystifying-president-trumps-national-energy-emergency-and-the-scope-of-emergency-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2025\/02\/14\/demystifying-president-trumps-national-energy-emergency-and-the-scope-of-emergency-authority\/","title":{"rendered":"Demystifying President Trump\u2019s \u201cNational Energy Emergency\u201d and the Scope of Emergency Authority"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It has been just a few weeks since President Donald J. Trump returned to the White House and, wow, what a whirlwind it has been. In the midst of the constitutional extreme event brought on by the administration, this blog post seeks to do one thing: review the emergency authorities invoked in Executive Order 14156<\/a>, Declaring a National Energy Emergency<\/em>, and assess what types of actions we might reasonably expect to see come from it. If reasonable expectations are applicable, anymore.<\/p>\n

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The purpose of President Trump\u2019s order is to declare a \u201cnational energy emergency\u201d based on his assertion that the United States has unrealized energy resources and that the previous administration\u2019s policies caused \u201ca precariously inadequate and intermittent energy supply\u201d and \u201cunreliable grid;\u201d led to high energy prices; and threaten the economy, national security, and foreign policy. Government research<\/a> and independent assessments (see, e.g., here<\/a> and here<\/a>) contradict President Trump\u2019s findings about insufficient energy supply and grid unreliability. In fact, fossil fuel production reached record levels under President Biden. Nevertheless, based on the declared emergency, Trump directs agencies to bolster fossil fuel infrastructure through a series of actions described in the order.<\/p>\n

As a general matter, the President derives emergency powers from the Constitution and statutes. Although presidential emergency powers can be quite expansive, the Supreme Court made clear in Biden v. Nebraska<\/em><\/a> that emergency authority does not empower the President to take actions free from statutory limitations. In other words, announcing a \u201cnational energy emergency,\u201d regardless of fanfare and spectacle, does not give President Trump carte blanche to pursue his energy policy. In exercising emergency powers, the administration must act in accordance with the purposes and limitations of the laws granting those powers. Assuming, that is, that the rule of law continues to prevail in the United States.<\/p>\n

Although there are several emergency authorities that Trump\u2019s administration could seek to employ\u2014and many more non-emergency legal authorities\u2014the success of this strategy may well depend in part on the legitimacy of the underlying emergency declaration. Because many authorities leave some ambiguity as to what constitutes a sufficient \u201cemergency,\u201d an argument might be made that agency action taken based on a flawed emergency premise could be subject to \u201carbitrary and capricious\u201d challenges.<\/p>\n

Executive Order 14156 cites a handful of specific statutory provisions and regulations but also asks agencies to search for any and all lawful authorities they can use to advance President Trump\u2019s energy policy, in an over-the-top, see-if-it-sticks, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach. This blog post breaks down the emergency authorities in two parts. The first examines what could be included in the sections that call upon \u201cany lawful emergency authorities\u201d to carry out broad policy directives. The second evaluates the specific provisions named in the order.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s reliance on \u201cany lawful emergency authorities\u201d<\/h3>\n

Sections 2(a) and 3 of Executive Order 14156 contain a broad directive to agencies to develop domestic energy resources on or off federal lands by facilitating \u201cidentification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources,\u201d with a particular focus on the West Coast, Northeast, and Alaska. To accomplish this, the Executive Order instructs agencies to rely on \u201cany lawful emergency authorities\u201d available to them.<\/p>\n

The universe of possible legal authorities related to the activities named above is vast. There are many laws that regulate the leasing of public lands for fossil fuel production and the development of fossil fuel energy infrastructure, such as liquified natural gas (LNG) and coal export terminals, oil and gas pipelines, coal rail transport, refineries, and more. Here, we categorize those legal authorities in four buckets: (1) those that contain no emergency provisions; (2) those with emergency provisions that are irrelevant to, or don\u2019t further the purpose of, increasing energy supply or addressing energy prices; (3) those with emergency authorities that require compliance with statutory criteria, including definitions of \u201cemergency;\u201d and (4) those with emergency authorities that require only a presidential or congressional declaration of \u201cnational emergency,\u201d or give no guidance as to what qualifies as an \u201cemergency.\u201d<\/p>\n

No emergency provisions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leasing federal lands for fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure:<\/p>\n