Donald Trump’s presidential campaign announced plans to scrap many of President Biden’s clean energy initiatives if Trump is re-elected. The campaign aims to eliminate regulations on power plants and transportation emissions, and fast-track approvals for new power plants to meet growing electricity demands.
David Bernhardt, Trump’s former Interior Secretary, stated that Trump would authorize the construction of hundreds of new power plants and withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. He criticized Biden-Harris policies for allegedly distorting energy markets and raising consumer costs. Kamala Harris’s spokesperson, James Singer, countered that Trump’s approach favours Big Oil over the U.S.’s energy future. He noted that American energy production has reached record levels and created hundreds of thousands of jobs under the Biden-Harris administration.
Despite the Biden administration’s focus on clean energy, fossil fuel electricity generation reached 17.37 TW in 2023. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which provided billions in subsidies for clean energy projects, saw no Republican support, with some GOP members advocating for repeal of fossil fuel limits.
Trump’s campaign also aims to “modernize” the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to speed up new nuclear power plant approvals, contrasting with recent Biden administration reforms to encourage and expedite nuclear energy projects.