As the Trump administration accelerates environmental reviews for fossil fuel projects, experts warn of potential consequences and legal challenges.
The Uncertain Future of Fossil Fuel Companies Under Trump
Accelerating Environmental Reviews: A Gift to the Industry?
The US Department of the Interior recently announced that it would speed up the approval process for certain fossil fuel projects, claiming that environmental analyses can now be completed in a maximum of one month. This new policy may seem like a boon to the industry, but experts warn that it could lead to serious consequences.
The Shortened Timelines
Under the new procedures, reviews that normally take a year must now be completed within just two weeks, while those that might last longer than a year must be done in under a month. This drastic reduction in timelines raises concerns about the potential for environmental damage and the lack of public input.
Environmental damage is primarily caused by human activities such as deforestation, pollution, and climate change.
Deforestation contributes to soil erosion and loss of biodiversity.
Pollution harms ecosystems and 'human health' through air and water contamination.
Climate change affects global temperature regulation, leading to extreme weather events.
Statistics show that 13% of greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, while industrial processes account for 21%.
Understanding these causes is crucial in mitigating the effects on ecosystems and human societies.
Sam Sankar, a senior vice president at Earthjustice, describes the new procedures as ‘laughable‘ and warns that they will not hold up in court. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act are bedrock laws that these new timelines may run afoul of.
The Consequences of Shortened Timelines
Experts say that the shortened timelines are so short that they almost certainly violate these laws. With mass layoffs inside the federal government, including at Interior, there may soon be far too few staff to handle reviews that would be near impossible to fulfill even in normal circumstances.
This leaves any projects that try to break ground under the new timelines open to easy legal challenges. Sankar notes that this is ‘low-hanging fruit‘ for people who are impacted by a project and want to take a developer to court.
The Industry’s Reaction
The fast-forwarded processes are tied to a part of NEPA that states that agencies can bypass environmental reviews in case of an emergency. However, Ryan Hathaway, who worked on NEPA-related issues within Interior for more than a decade, says that this emergency justification has been used in the past only for concrete events that pose an immediate threat to health and public safety.
Lawyers are expected to have a field day with these new rules. The administration’s gifts to the industry, including accelerated timelines for environmental permitting and changes to offshore drilling policies, come with significant strings attached.
Offshore drilling policies aim to balance energy production with environmental concerns.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) sets global standards for offshore oil and gas operations.
The US has its own regulatory framework, including the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
Countries like Norway and the UK have implemented stricter regulations due to their proximity to sensitive ecosystems.
The European Union's Offshore Safety Directive also emphasizes safety and environmental protection.
These policies are subject to change as new technologies emerge and global energy demands shift.
The Uncertain Future of Fossil Fuel Companies
The shale oil boom of the early 2010s rewarded executives for increased production, but this strategy led to too much supply, causing prices per barrel to drop. After prices bottomed out during the pandemic, investors became more cautious about unrestrained production.
Despite President Joe Biden‘s climate focus, the US oil and gas industry has become the world’s biggest crude oil producer, reaching a record high of producing 13.4 million barrels per day late last year. The challenge under the Trump administration is balancing profitability with the president’s goal of unleashing ‘energy dominance.’
Clayton Seigle, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, notes that investors are now thinking about the political risk of energy projects right here at home. This uncertainty is being caused by conflicting messages from the new administration.
The industry is vitriolic towards the White House, with comments from anonymous executives expressing shock and frustration over the conflicting messages coming from the new administration. One executive describes 2025 as ‘uncertainty‘ and notes that it cannot be both ‘US energy dominance‘ and $50 per barrel oil.
In conclusion, the Trump administration’s policies are creating uncertainty for fossil fuel companies. The accelerated timelines for environmental permitting and changes to offshore drilling policies come with significant risks and uncertainties.
The Trump administration, led by President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021, implemented several key policies across various sectors.
In domestic policy, the administration focused on tax reform, with the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017.
The law reduced corporate and individual tax rates, but was criticized for increasing the national debt.
In foreign policy, the Trump administration withdrew from several international agreements, including the Paris Climate Accord and the Iran nuclear deal.
Additionally, the administration imposed tariffs on imported goods from China and other countries.
