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National Energy Emergency: What Trump’s Energy Policy Means for Rural America [1]
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Date: 2025-01-23
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to more accurately reflect the effects of executive actions taken by President Trump that affect disbursment of funds from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bi-partisan Infrastructure Law.
President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders on the evening of January 20, his first day in office, focused on offshore wind, fossil fuel development, and Arctic drilling.
Included in this windfall is a declaration of a National Energy Emergency, showing just how serious the incoming administration is about establishing its own energy policy.
The emergency declaration gives Trump the power to suspend some requirements under the Clean Air Act. It also aligns with the Trump administration’s priority to expand fossil fuel production in the U.S. to meet growing power demand.
At least 47% of all emissions from carbon-intensive energy production in the U.S. come from rural America, according to a 2024 report from the Rural Climate Partnership. Currently, about 60% of coal-fired power plants reside in rural America.
With the majority of the country’s coal plants and over 80% of clean energy plants like wind, solar, and geothermal based in rural areas, what happens to climate and environmental policy under the next administration has a bearing on rural Americans.
And the majority of American energy currently being built is renewable, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which is under the Department of Energy. The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022 made clean energy incentives widely available for communities and businesses across the country.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) received more than $13 billion from the legislation to carry out three programs, including rural electrification efforts, under their Rural Development umbrella.
Trump has ordered federal agencies to “immediately pause” all payments related to the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bi-partisan Infrastructure Law, including those that have already been obligated. Additionally, the new administration has given agency leaders 90 days to review all “processes, policies, and programs for issuing grants, loans, contracts, or any other financial disbursements” of IRA funds to align them with Trump’s energy policy.
Notably, the new administration’s definition of “energy” and “energy resources” excludes renewables like wind and solar.
To date, the vast majority of U.S. solar and wind plants have been built in rural areas, per the Rural Climate Partnership’s report.
“Clean energy is rural energy,” said Josh Ewing, founding director of the Rural Climate Partnership. “Almost all of the clean energy that needs to be built to power the United States is going to be built in rural places.”
Funding from the IRA will accelerate the clean energy boom in rural places once it lands in communities. While it is difficult to get a complete picture of the IRA funding that has been allocated or spent by the USDA, nearly $9 billion in rural clean energy grants have been announced as of December 2024. Much of that funding is still on its way out the door.
According to Ewing, IRA funding that has been announced — like some of the grants from the USDA — may not yet have legally binding contracts in place. Without a contract, it could now be susceptible to Trump’s dispersement freeze.
“Highest Environmental Standards” and Deregulation
Trump has promised that his administration will maintain the “highest environmental standards,” including the “cleanest air and water on the planet.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the nation’s top environmental regulatory office, charged with enforcing pollution and wastewater standards under the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, which have been around since the 1970s.
But the President has plans to deregulate the EPA as a means to spur American businesses. Rollbacks of rules governing chemical standards and the disposal of toxic coal waste that occurred during Trump’s first term provide some insight as to how the new administration plans to deregulate the EPA.
In the time since Trump’s first term, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the long-held “Chevron deference” precedent, giving courts the power to overrule how federal agencies interpret laws that pertain to their areas of expertise. This new standard gives Trump more latitude to make changes at the EPA following his political priorities.
Trump also plans to revamp his efforts to cut down on government regulations, notably through his new Department of Government Efficiency, to be led in part by Elon Musk. Those efforts could look like this executive order from his first term, directing federal agencies to eliminate two regulations for each new one passed and weakening environmental regulations.
Trump issued an executive order on January 20 freezing all rules not yet published in the Federal Register and subjecting them to a review, a move which is typical for new administrations to take upon assuming office.
The new administration also rescinded 78 executive orders issued by former President Joe Biden, including a number that made explicit reference to climate change.
“Climate extremism has exploded inflation and overburdened businesses with regulation,” the White House wrote in the day one executive order.
Some Optimism Remains
Ewing told the Daily Yonder he is optimistic that the grants that have been announced will still reach rural communities.
“I have a hard time seeing any lawmaker want to take money away from rural electric cooperatives that they are going to use to reduce energy costs for their consumers,” Ewing said.
“You start cutting support for clean energy, you’re going to hurt rural people more than you hurt anybody else.”
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