Trump's Energy Emergency Can't Fix the Real Fuel Crisis — SkimNews
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- Trump's January 2025 executive order declared a 'national energy emergency' and directed agencies to use 'all relevant lawful emergency authorities' to expedite fossil fuel development, but almost two years later, the powers have failed to lower consumer prices for either fuel or electricity.
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued emergency orders to block coal plant retirements, but a federal appellate court in September rejected the order keeping Michigan's J.H. Campbell plant open, calling Wright's emergency claim 'unpersuasive' — the mandate has cost Midwest ratepayers nearly $300 million.
- Trump's order convened the 'God Squad' of Cabinet secretaries to waive Endangered Species Act protections in the Gulf of Mexico, enabling BP's deepwater Kaskida project, but Kaskida is years from production and would yield only a small fraction of the oil that normally transits the Strait of Hormuz in a month.
- U.S. refiners are running near maximum capacity with no slack to ramp up gasoline and diesel output, and the inflexible refinery system cannot quickly produce more fuel, meaning the only real fix for prices above $4/gallon gasoline and $6/gallon diesel is ending the Iran war.
- About a dozen states have sued the Trump administration over the original energy emergency executive order, arguing no genuine emergency exists; oral arguments are scheduled for October 20, and Georgetown Climate Center's Melissa Birchard said courts may begin viewing the repeated emergency claims as a 'pattern' that doesn't hold up.
- The Iran war's closure of the Strait of Hormuz and destruction of Middle Eastern refineries is the root cause of the refined fuel shortage, and Gbenga Ajilore of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the only thing that would meaningfully bring prices down is reversing the war — 'Outside of that, there really isn't much to do.'
Why it matters: Consumers are paying historic prices at the pump — diesel above $6 a gallon, gasoline above $4 — while the emergency powers Trump used to define his energy agenda can expedite oil drilling but cannot add a single barrel of refinery capacity, and federal courts are already rejecting the 'emergency' rationale that underpins the policy.
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