Trump’s Self-Imposed “Energy Emergency”; What It Means for Metals; Plus Good News!
and more about the human and environmental costs of renewable energy and digital technology—and how we can do better.
Trump’s Self-Imposed “Energy Emergency”
Trying something new—audio! Click on the arrow to hear me read this story.
Newly-installed President Trump had barely taken his seat in the Oval Office before he opened fire on the last administration’s efforts to combat climate change. In his first two days as president, Trump signed a flurry of executive orders lifting up fossil fuels while kidney-punching renewables.
For starters, Trump (once again) pulled the US out of the Paris Accord, the global pact aimed at keeping planetary warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. America now retakes its place alongside Iran, Libya and Yemen, the only other countries to reject the accord.
Trump also declared a national “energy emergency.” It’s not clear what the emergency is, considering the US is currently the world’s number one oil and gas producer, and last year produced more energy than it consumed. Nonetheless, Trump signed more orders “aimed at promoting oil and gas development in Alaska, reversing Biden's efforts to protect Arctic lands and U.S. coastal waters from drilling…and lifting a freeze on (liquid natural gas) export permitting,” sums up Reuters. “We will drill, baby, drill,” Trump promised. The oil and gas interests that contributed $75 million to his campaign were presumably pleased.
At the same time, Trump went after renewables and electric vehicles on several fronts. He directed federal agencies to stop disbursing money approved by Congress under Biden administration laws that allocated hundreds of billions of dollars to promote wind, solar and other types of renewable energy as well as EVs. Those funds include “tax credits for electric-vehicle purchases, federal grants for chargers, and subsidies and loans to help retool assembly lines and build battery factories,” reports The New York Times. Trump also cancelled a Biden executive order that called for 50 percent of new vehicles to run at least partly on electricity or hydrogen by 2030. Biden-era tailpipe emissions standards, which effectively forced automakers to sell more electric cars, are also out the window.
And for good measure, Trump suspended new federal leases for offshore wind projects, and ordered federal agencies to stop issuing permits for all wind farms, at least for now. "We're not going to do the wind thing. Big, ugly wind mills. They ruin your neighborhood," he said.
All of this is obviously terrible news for the fight against climate change. The US is the world’s second-biggest carbon emitter, after China. Maybe the goal is to regain the top spot? America First, after all! But even if you believe climate change is a hoax, this shift back to oil is just a stunningly short-sighted, self-defeating strategy.
Thing is, you can be pro-fossil fuel without being anti-renewables. Obviously, I don’t think that’s a good approach, because I believe climate change is real. But it is the path China has taken, along with many other countries. They’ve increased their use of both coal and wind and solar power enormously in recent years. Why not? If your goal is simply to generate as much energy as possible, it makes sense to harness all available forms. Even Saudi Arabia is promoting renewables.
There’s also a powerful argument for building up production of renewables and EVs on economic grounds. Solar and wind power are growing explosively worldwide, and there’s no end in sight. Solar alone is likely to become the world’s biggest source of electricity in the next ten years. If you’re a rising African or Asian country that lacks its own fossil fuels, why would you continue to yoke yourself into depending on unreliable, self-interested foreign providers of oil when you could instead generate your own electricity from the sun and wind, which nobody controls? And why continue to import gas-powered cars when you could import EVs that will run on that same domestically-produced electricity?
This is one huge reason why China has invested so heavily in renewables and EVs. Chinese manufacturers are making billions exporting wind turbines and solar panels to other countries, including the US. Meanwhile Chinese carmakers are selling many more billions of dollars worth of low-cost, high-quality EVs. In China itself, sales of electric vehicles now top those of gas-powered ones. Only tariffs are keeping Chinese EVs out of the US. But everywhere else, they will grab market share from American companies just as more fuel-efficient Japanese cars did in the late 20th century.
Many of Trump’s executive orders on energy will be stalled, and some will likely fizzle out. They will be fought in the courts, and sometimes even in Congress. The many Republicans whose districts have received billions of dollars to help build up EV and battery factories will not want the federal spigot turned off.
Nonetheless, the president has made clear he wants to see the fossil fuel industry continue to reap short-term profits, even while America falls further and further behind China in developing the technologies and energy infrastructure that will define the Electro-Digital Age.
That’s the real emergency.
What about Critical Metals?
Despite Trump’s hostility to renewables and EVs, he seems very fond of the idea of mining and refining more of the critical metals that make them possible. In one of his executive orders he calls for government officials to remove “undue burdens” on domestic mining, and specifically to “ensure that critical mineral projects, including the processing of critical minerals, receive consideration for Federal support.” One of his executive orders sets a goal for America to become “the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals.”
Robinson Meyer at Heatmap makes a good argument as to how this makes no sense in the context of Trump’s anti-EV moves:
By kneecapping demand for electric vehicles, Trump will hurt the critical minerals industry more than any anti-growth hippie could fathom. For the past few years, corporate America and Wall Street have invested billions of dollars in lithium and rare-earths mining and processing facilities across the country. These projects, which are largely in Republican districts, only make financial sense in a world where the United States produces a large and growing number of electric vehicles: EVs make up the lion’s share of future demand for lithium, rare earth elements, and other geostrategically sensitive rocks, and any mines or refining facilities will only pencil out in a world where EVs purchase their output. If Trump kills the non-Tesla part of the EV industry, then he will also mortally harm those projects’ economics.
Then again, critical metals are needed for many things besides manufacturing EVs. The list includes the batteries in every digital gadget and cordless power tool, the cables forming the electric grid, and many important military and medical technologies. Maybe Trump is thinking about those things. Or maybe he just likes the idea of mining as a solidly American industry. (Remember when he used to talk so much about coal miners?) Worst case, the US might just end up with more mining that doesn’t even support the energy transition.
Good News Break
OK, enough downers. Here’s a little good news to cleanse your mental palate. Women farmers in Bangladesh are turning to solar-powered irrigation pumps to bring water to their fields. The pumps are replacing diesel-powered versions, freeing the farmers from having to buy fuel and cutting down on air pollution. The new pumps aren’t perfect, but they’re a step in the right direction. Thanks to Sam Matey at The Weekly Anthropocene for the tip!
Book News
I really enjoyed this interview for The Tyee with Harrison Mooney, author of Invisible Boy. In other Canadian news, I’ll be on a coast-to-coast collection of CBC radio shows this weekend! And thanks to the venerable Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists for this interview.
More News Worth Knowing
😇 Thousands of friendly EV owners are sharing their at-home charging points
⛏️ Dozens of illegal zama zama miners died in South African gold mines during a police siege aimed at forcing them up to the surface. On the other side of the continent in Ghana, soldiers killed several illegal gold miners.
🔥 In California, a huge fire broke out at the world’s biggest battery plant.