Trump Administration’s 2025 Energy Policy Roundup Part 3: The Green Retreat

Washington, D.C. (April, 16, 2025) - The Trump administration’s 2025 energy policy reflects a new direction focused on advancing traditional energy development by reducing regulatory oversight. The policy emphasizes the rollback of certain environmental and sustainability initiatives, including revisions to greenhouse gas regulations, suspension of climate-related program funding, and withdrawal from select international climate agreements. 

Outlined below are key executive orders and policy directives driving these changes.

1. EO 14148 – “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions” (01/20/2025)

Rescinds several Biden Executive Orders, including:

• EO 14008, which integrated climate concerns into U.S. policy, set a net-zero emissions target by mid-century, rejoined the Paris Agreement, created clean energy offices and task forces, and launched the “30 by 30” conservation initiative [Sec. 2(s)];
   
• EO 14027, which established the Climate Change Support Office to promote U.S. climate initiatives globally [Sec. 2(ff)];
   
• EO 14030, which mandated an interagency strategy to address climate-related financial risks to federal programs, assets, and liabilities [Sec. 2(hh)]; and
   
• EO 14057, which sought to position the federal government as a leader in sustainability by advancing clean energy industries and jobs, promoting climate-resilient infrastructure and operations, and setting 2030 emissions reduction and carbon-free electricity targets [Sec. 2(rr)].

1. EO 14154 – "Unleashing American Energy" (01/20/2025)

• Reaffirms the rescission of Executive Orders 14008, 14027, 14030 and 14057, and revokes:

EO 13990, which established the Interagency Working Group to assess the social cost of greenhouse gases, and halted development of the Keystone XL Pipeline to align with climate and clean energy priorities. [Sec. 4(a)(i)]  

• Terminates all activities related to the American Climate Corps--a 2023 Biden initiative to train workers for clean energy, conservation, and environmental jobs--and requires written agreement to the termination from all parties. [Sec. 4(b)]
   
• Rescinds the Carter administration’s EO 11991 (1977), which aimed to enhance environmental quality and authorized the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) authority to issue binding regulations. [Sec. 5(a)]
   
• Directs the CEQ to issue new NEPA implementation guidance, propose rescinding current NEPA regulations, and form a working group to revise agency-level NEPA regulations, with a goal of prioritizing permitting approvals over competing objectives, including those of “activist groups”. [Sec. 5(b)-(d)]. On February 25, 2025, the CEQ published an interim final rule (IFR) withdrawing its NEPA regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations effective April 11, 2025. Agencies may, however, continue to rely on rescinded or similar regulations for ongoing NEPA reviews, or to defend reviews completed under the prior rules. [II.C]
   
• Disbands the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases created under EO 13990, withdraws related guidance, including the “social cost of carbon” calculation--declaring that it no longer reflects federal policy--and directs the EPA to consider eliminating this calculation from permitting and regulatory decisions. [Sec. 6(b),(c)]
   
• Gives the EPA 30 days to assess and report on the legality and continuing applicability of its 2009 Endangerment Finding, which concluded that six greenhouse gases-- including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide--threaten public health and welfare by contributing to climate change. [Sec. 6(f)]. On March 12, 2025, the EPA announced that it had formally begun reconsideration of its Endangerment Finding in coordination with other agencies.
   
• Directs all federal agencies to temporarily pause disbursements of IRA and IIJA funds supporting programs like the “Green New Deal”--a policy framework focused on cutting emissions, expanding renewable energy, and addressing climate-related social and economic impacts. [Sec. 7(b),(c)]. To implement this directive, the OMB issued Memo M-25-11, clarifying that the pause applies to any appropriations that conflict with the EO’s energy priorities. On January 28, 2025--the same day the freeze was set to take effect--a U.S. District Court issued an Order enjoining implementation of the EO with respect to open awards. The White House maintains, however, that the EO remains in full effect, and will be “rigorously implemented.”
   
• In a separate March 12, 2025 statement, the agency described 31 historic actions it was undertaking as part of the most significant deregulatory effort in U.S. history, including six actions taken pursuant to this Order.  

3. EO 14156 - “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” (01/20/2025)

• Urges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to identify emergency permitting provisions under the Clean Water Act—a law aimed at protecting U.S. waters, regulated by the Corps in coordination with the EPA--that could be used to fast-track energy-related projects. [Sec. 4]
   
• Charges other relevant agencies to remove regulatory barriers to domestic energy infrastructure projects by identifying similar emergency provisions under the Endangered Species Act—a landmark 1973 law protecting endangered species and their habitats. [Secs. 5 & 6]

4. EO 14162 – “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements” (01/20/2025)

• Mandates immediate U.S. withdrawal from all agreements, pacts, or commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including the Paris Agreement—an international climate treaty adopted by a vast majority of nations, which aims to limit global warming, achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, promote national climate action plans, and support developing countries in mitigation and adaptation efforts. [Sec. 3(a),(b)]. However, due to the Agreement’s one-year notice requirement, the withdrawal is unlikely to be formally recognized as effective until January 27, 2026, and the U.S. will likely remain bound by its obligations until that date.
   
• Directs cessation of financial commitments under the UNFCCC [Sec. 3(c)], and revokes the U.S. International Climate Finance Plan. [Sec. 3(e)]
   
• Prioritizes economic efficiency, American prosperity, consumer choice, and fiscal restraint in planning and coordinating international energy agreements. [Sec. 3(g)]

5. EO 14213 – “Establishing the National Energy Dominance Council” (02/14/2025)

• Charges the Council with advising the President on increasing energy production and achieving energy dominance by cutting red tape and eliminating outdated, unnecessary, regulations. [Sec. 4(b)(iii)].
   
• Requires the Council to recommend a national plan to raise awareness of energy dominance matters, including the urgent need for reliable energy, and the negative impact of regulatory constraints on national security and consumer energy costs. [Sec. 4(d)(i)]

6. EO 14236 – “Additional Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions” (03/14/2025)

Adds to the list of rescinded Biden-era Orders and Determinations:

• EO 14081, which promoted biomanufacturing to support a sustainable, secure American bioeconomy across energy and environmental sectors; and
   
• PD 2022-15, PD 2022-16, PD 2022-17 and PD 2022-18, which invoked Section 303 of the Defense Production Act to support increased domestic production of solar photovoltaic modules, insulation, electrolyzers, fuel cells, platinum group metals, and electric heat pumps--deemed essential to national defense and a sustainable clean energy industrial base.

7. EO – “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach” (04/08/2025)

• Seeks to expand traditional energy development by eliminating state regulations viewed as exceeding legal authority and hindering traditional energy production, such as New York and Vermont laws that penalize past greenhouse gas emissions, and California’s carbon cap law.
   
• Directs the Attorney General to identify such laws—prioritizing those tied to climate change, ESG, environmental justice, greenhouse gas emissions, or carbon-related—take steps to block their enforcement, report on actions taken, and recommend further actions to the President within 60 days.

8. EO – “Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy” (04/09/2025)

• Requires specific agencies involved in environmental regulation and energy production (including EPA, DOE, FERC, BLM, BOEM and BSEE) to include sunset provisions in energy-related regulations, and periodically review them for continued relevance and potential removal.
   
• Orders the agencies to issue a sunset rule, with a conditional sunset date, into their applicable regulations by September 30, 2025; and, within 30 days of the order, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers must provide a list of statutes granting them regulatory authority to the President.

9. Presidential Memorandum – “Directing the Repeal of Unlawful Regulations” (04/09/2025)

• Requires agencies to review and repeal regulations deemed unlawful under ten recent Supreme Court decisions, including Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, and several EPA-related cases such as West Virginia v. EPA, Michigan v. EPA, Sackett v. EPA, and Ohio v. EPA.
   
• Instructs agencies to expedite the repeal of facially unlawful regulations by invoking the "good cause" exception under the Administrative Procedure Act.

These directives represent a shift in federal energy and environmental policy, emphasizing reduced regulatory burdens on traditional energy development. Several Orders that require legal interpretations by federal agencies could also face legal challenges, particularly following the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, which overturned the Chevron Doctrine—a long-standing precedent granting agencies deference in interpreting laws. As these policies develop, their long-term effects on the energy sector and environmental objectives are expected to remain central to national and global discussions, as well as legal and policy debates.

Read Parts 1 and 2 of our roundup of the Trump administration's energy policy here and here.

For more information on these developments, contact the author or editors of this alert. Visit our Energy, Marine & Power Practice page to learn more about Lewis Brisbois' capabilities in this area.

Author:

Odette Bruce-Tagoe, Partner

Editors:

Andrew Pidgirsky, Partner and Co-Chair of Energy, Marine & Power Practice

Rosario Palmieri, Partner