During his first-year in the White House, the U.S. President Donald Trump's energy policies mostly focused on abolishing the clean energy-driven legacy of his predecessor Barack and deregulating tight regulations on hydrocarbons.
'America First Energy Policy Plan', which was released on Trump's inauguration day on Jan. 20, 2017, aimed to deregulate the U.S.' energy sector, remove Obama's Climate Action Plan, and use the shale oil and gas resources in federal lands.
Obama's 'Climate Action Plan' in 2013 had aimed to lower carbon emissions in the U.S., shift to alternative energy resources, and increase research on climate change.
The plan, however, was labeled by Trump as 'unnecessary' and 'harmful' when he took and was canceled May 2017.
Instead, Trump wanted to reopen coal mines and increase employment in the U.S.' coal sector.
As he repeated numerous times to 'unleash America's energy potential' during his presidential campaign, he also won in eight of the U.S.' top nine states.
- Pulling out of Paris Climate Accord
Perhaps Trump's most controversial decision came on June 1, when he announced pulling the U.S. out of the historic Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The Accord was seen as a significant legacy of Obama who made the U.S. lead 95 countries to sign the agreement in order to take action against climate change.
On the other hand, Trump dubbed the deal as 'unfair' and 'the agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the U.S.'
- Report from 13 US agencies
A joint report from 13 U.S. federal agencies in November 2017 concluded that 'it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.'
Some of the agencies in the report included the U.S.' Departments of Defense, Energy, Commerce, Agriculture, Transportation, NASA, in addition to the U.S.' Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The report, which was in contrast with the Trump administration's stance, also underlined that the last three years have been recorded as the warmest years in history, warning these trends are expected to continue over time.
- Steps to repeal Obama's Clean Power Plan
The Trump administration did not stop short to repeal another Obama clean-energy legacy, his 2015 Clean Power Plan, which aimed to reduce carbon emissions from coal-burning power plants.
Trump signed an executive order March 2017 directing EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to review the Plan. After months of review, Pruitt announced October 2017 that he repealed Clean Power Plan, which became effective the same day.
Pruitt argued that the Obama administration overstated the benefits of the Plan, and said 'The past administration was using every bit of power and authority to use the EPA to pick winners and losers and how we generate electricity in this country. That's wrong.'
- Allowing offshore drilling
Right before Obama left the White House, Obama indefinitely banned drilling in large areas of the Arctic and the Atlantic December 2016.
However, the Department of Interior announced on Jan. 5, 2018 that it is preparing a five-year plan that will provide exploration and production of oil and gas in federal offshore areas for energy companies with 'the largest number of lease sales in U.S. history.'
The plan called 'Unleashing America's Offshore Oil and Gas Potential', which is considered a major blow to Obama's environmental proposed to open more than 90 percent of areas in the U.S.' Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions between 2019-2024 for drilling.
- US oil output rises faster under Trump
During Trump's first-year in the office, the U.S. Crude oil production increased more rapidly, compared to Obama's first-year, and reached a record high level.
Between January 2009 to January 2010, domestic crude output in the country had risen from 5.04 million barrels per day () to 5.42 -- a 7.5 percent increase.
In Trump's first-year, with much help from rising oil prices in the global market and shale oil output in its full speed, the U.S.' crude oil production increased from 8.96 on January 2009 to 9.79 on December 2018 -- its highest level in the country since the 1970s.
This marked a 9.3 percent increase in the U.S.' crude oil output during Trump's first-year in the White House.
The U.S.' crude oil production is projected to reach an average of 10 this year, and 10.8 next year, according to the Energy Administration (EIA).
The EIA also estimates that domestic crude output will climb above the 11 November 2019, to surpass the world's two biggest crude oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia.
- Energy Secretary PerryTrump's choice for his energy secretary also varied from his predecessor's secretaries.
Obama's energy secretaries were Steven Chu between 2009 and 2013 who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997; and Ernest Moniz, a nuclear physicist, between 2013 and 2017.
On the other hand, Trump's choice for that office was perceived controversial when he nominated the former Texas governor Rick Perry.
During his 2012 presidential campaign, Perry had stated his intention to close down the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2011, he called global warming 'a hoax' and 'there are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects.'
Perry softened his tone in March 2017 before the U.S. Senate approved his nomination, and “some of [global warming] is caused by man-made activity.”
- Keystone XL
Another confidential decision came when Trump approved the Keystone XL oil pipeline project that was to carry crude oil from Canada to the refineries in the U.S.' Gulf Coast.
After reviewing the project for 7 years, Obama rejected it November 2015 due to environmental concerns.
However, Trump approved it March 2017 -- in less than two months after he took the office.
Keystone XL's larger pipeline system, Keystone, caused a malfunction in November 2017 and leaked around 5,000 barrels of crude in Dakota.
By Ovunc Kutlu in New York
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr