Trump would roll back Biden’s clean energy rules, speed up approval of power plants, campaign says Reuters

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump will roll back many of President Joe Biden’s clean energy rules while speeding up approval of power plants to meet the nation’s growing electricity demands, the Republican’s presidential campaign said on Thursday.

If he wins the Nov. 5 election, Trump would eliminate clean energy regulations by Biden and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, on both power plants and vehicle emissions. These rules aim to reduce carbon emissions from the energy industry while pushing the auto industry to switch to electric cars to reduce tailpipe pollution.

The former president “will immediately stop all Biden-Harris policies that distort energy markets, limit consumer choice and increase costs for consumers on day one,” David Bernhardt, Trump’s former Interior Department secretary, told reporters on a call campaign. .

Bernhardt said Trump would also implement fast-track approvals for energy projects and “greenlight the construction of hundreds of new power plants,” without elaborating on how those plants would be powered.

He added that Trump will withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on combating climate change, as he did during his 2017-2021 term in the White House.

The policy proposals were consistent with previous statements and closely followed Trump’s efforts during his presidency to encourage industrial and fossil fuel projects and reduce regulations.

In response, Harris campaign spokesman James Singer said Trump wanted to sell America’s energy future to Big Oil executives and that under Biden and Harris, “American energy of all kinds has reached record levels of production, resulting in hundreds thousands of new jobs for American workers because of her leadership.”

“Trump’s proposals would raise prices for consumers, pollute our air and water and take us backwards,” Singer said.

During Biden’s presidency, U.S. oil and gas production reached the highest levels of any country ever, despite his administration’s broader efforts to transition to cleaner energy. Congress passed the Biden Inflation Relief Act in 2022, which contains hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies for clean energy such as wind, solar, hydrogen, geothermal projects.

No Republicans voted for the IRA, and some in the party introduced legislation to repeal parts of the bill.

Asked if Trump would support repealing parts of the IRA, Corey Lewandowski, a Trump campaign adviser, dodged the question.

Bernhardt also said Trump “will put coal country back to work so that all Americans have access to affordable energy,” without elaborating on how those workers would be put to work.

Despite Trump’s promises to revive the coal industry during his administration, employment in the industry has declined as power generators have turned to abundant and renewable energy.

In April, Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency finalized rules targeting carbon, air and water pollution from power plants, an industry responsible for nearly 25 percent of U.S. carbon emissions. The rules will effectively require coal-fired power plants and new natural gas generators to capture emissions before they reach the atmosphere.

Bernhardt said Trump would “modernize” the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to speed up approvals for new nuclear plants and extend the lives of existing ones.

“There has been legislation to address some of these issues, but it’s a long way to go,” Bernhardt said.

Biden signed legislation in July to reform the agency to help speed approvals, and his administration has sought to encourage new projects, restart shuttered plants and delay scheduled nuclear reactor retirements.