Trump at campaign rally with "drill baby drill" sign in foreground

This blog focuses on the problematic nature of Executive Order (EO) No. 14,156, Declaring a National Energy Emergency, and what this case represents about the administration overall. Trump’s declaration of an energy emergency is not good for the American people, environment, or economy. The White House Factsheet on the Declaration of a National Energy Emergency claims that the goal of this EO is to strengthen the economy and American energy production. While these goals sound good on paper, what they actually plan on doing will not result in this outcome. I will explain this more in the rest of the blog, but put simply, declaring an energy emergency and ramping up fossil fuels will not bring economic or social benefit; it will only bring environmental problems and inequality. This is because of the focus on fossil fuels and the departure from progress in renewables. 

Fossil fuels have been known for decades to be threatening to humans, species, and Earth (Taylor, 2024). Still, the EO defines “energy” or “energy resources” as “crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals, as defined by 30 U.S.C. 1606 (a)(3)” (Exec. Order No. 14,156, 2025). This definition does not include renewables, just fossil fuels which are incredibly harmful to people and the environment. But even aside from the social and environmental impacts, economically, fossil fuels are doing fine in the market right now–in fact, global demand is actually going down (Jacobo, 2025). Thus, economically, investing further in oil and gas is ineffectual because it will contribute to the “classic boom and bust cycle the oil industry is famous for” and “hurt the bottom line of the oil producers who have vocally supported Trump” (Domonoske, 2025). This so-called emergency is completely made up; there is no real lack of energy. 

The executive order, like many of Trump’s policies, is not based on factual information. Instead, they’re touted as being good for the economy and for America, when they’re really only good for the ultra-rich and powerful. To demonstrate the inconsistencies and lack of factual information, let’s look at the very first sentence in Section 1, which posits that the American energy supply is insufficient to meet our needs (Exec. Order No. 14,156, 2025). This is just not true. Here’s the truth: the US produces more energy than it consumes and is a net exporter of energy (US Energy Information Association, 2024). In fact, the US has never produced as much energy as it has in recent years (U.S. Energy Information Association, 2024). Colorado Senator Michael Bennet explains this in more detail here: Bennet Sounds Alarm on President Trump’s Sham “Energy Emergency”. I could get into the lies within the rest of the EO, with the administration’s plans for energy and environment, with the administration as a whole, and with Trump as a person–but we don’t have time for that. Instead, I’ll leave you with just one quote by John Gartner, one of America’s leading psychologists, that Trump “is the most documented liar in human history” (Partland, 2020). 

The Trump administration is deliberately using lies, the guise of “emergencies,” and the National Emergency Act (NEA) as tactics to justify all sorts of harmful actions. The real purpose of declaring this “emergency” is to bypass existing environmental legislation and realize their own agendas. The National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) explains that under this guise, they are “slashing permitting timelines and overriding safeguards under the National Energy Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA),” jeopardizing important consultation of local and tribal communities and recklessly opening up land to the highest bidder–without oversight (NRDC, 2025). Trump’s executive actions on energy and environment blatantly disregard decades of landmark environmental legislation, undermine the protection of basic human needs like air, water, food, and safe environments to live in, and jeopardize the protection of land and the whole ecological community. 

Exec. Order. No 14,156, Declaring a National Energy Emergency, represents the constant lying and misinformation which is not a side-effect or a symptom of this administration, but a deliberate strategy to deceive and manipulate. Ironically, the man who’s always talking about fake news is the most prolific source of it. He’s a liar, a sociopath, and a malignant narcissist who literally does not have the capacity for empathy (Partland, 2020). So, unfortunately, it’s this unrespectable, pathetic, and embarrassing character at the root of these problematic actions on energy and environment. Worse, he’s sadistic, so he finds pleasure in the suffering of others–like Hitler and Mussolini (Partland, 2020). Exec. Order No. 14,260 “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach” threatens states’ rights with environmental actions under the guise of “protecting American energy from state overreach” (Exec. Order No. 14,260, 2025). There’s all of this, from relinquishing public lands and protected areas to industry, to “drill, baby, drill,” to many other attacks on policies related to food and agriculture, air, water, human health, toxics, infrastructure, environmental justice, climate adaptation, lands and wildlife, oceans, and transportation (NRDC, 2025). His actions on energy and the environment are bad for everyone. I think this quote sums it up nicely: 

“Every American who doesn’t want a fracked well near their backyard, oil drilling off their beaches, or coal slurry leaking onto their children’s playground should be outraged by this unprecedented attempt to help fossil fuel billionaires. The American people want a say in the projects that will define their communities, beaches, and public lands for decades to come—they don’t want to hand that over to corporate polluters without any concern for the consequences” (NRDC, 2025). 

At this point, every conscious person should 1.) be painfully aware that Trump has no interest in protecting American people and the environment and 2.) feel compelled to do something about it. In a time of climate crisis, our lives are already at stake, and now, given the fall of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism, we cannot allow political leaders–let alone the President of the United States–to continually, repeatedly, and excitedly attack us. It’s sick. So, if readers learn one thing from my blog, I hope it’s this: there’s only one real “energy emergency”, and it’s the need to phase out fossil fuels and reduce CO2 emissions for human survival. Firing thousands of public servants, gutting organizations that protect us and our environment, and trading the promising investment of renewable energy for more Earth-killing and economically ineffectual fossil fuels is thoughtless and disgusting. 

Speaking of emergencies though, there’s one more I hope everyone gets by now: the urgent need for working people to reclaim our power for the creation of a more sustainable and just world. Trump is a violent racist, sexist, fascist, rapist, malignant narcissist, homophobe, transphobe, sociopath, bigot, pathological liar, authoritarian, and convicted felon who should’ve never been anywhere near the White House. He and his supporters are putting our lives in danger, and we must act now–or any hope for a prosperous future may be irreversibly compromised. 

 

References

Bense, K. (2025, April 12). New Trump Administration Directives to Repeal Environmental Regulations en Masse Make ‘No Sense’ Legal Experts Say. Inside Climate News. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12042025/new-trump-administration-directives-to-repeal-environmental-regulations-en-masse-make-no-sense-legal-experts-say/.   

Domonoske, C. (2025, January 22). Trump has declared a ‘national energy emergency.’ What does that mean? NPR. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/nx-s1-5268653/energy- emergency-trump-oil-evs. 

Exec. Order No. 14,156, 3 C.F.R.  8433 (2025). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR- 2025-01-29/pdf/2025-02003.pdf. 

Exec. Order No. 14,260, 3 C.F.R 15,513 (2025). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR- 2025-04-14/pdf/2025-06379.pdf. 

Jacobo, J. (2025, March 13). Why the Trump administration is wrong about an energy crisis in the US, according to experts. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump- administration-wrong-energy-crisis-us-experts/story?id=119668360. 

NRDC. (2025, April 16). White House Watch: Tracking Attacks on Our Environment and Health. NRDC. https://www.nrdc.org/resources/white-house-watch- tracking- attacks-our-environment-health. 

Partland, D. (Partland). (2020). #Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump. (Film). Dark Star Pictures. 

Taylor, C. (2023, October 25). Defense, Denial, and Disinformation: Uncovering the Oil Industry’s Early Knowledge of Climate Change. Georgetown University, the Earth Commons. https://commonhome.georgetown.edu/topics/climateenergy/defense -denial-and-disinformation-uncovering-the-oil-industrys-early-knowledge-of-climate-change/. 

U.S. Energy Information Association. (2024, July 15). U.S. energy facts explained. U.S. Energy Information Association. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/.