The emergency declaration is just one of many actions Trump is expected to take on Monday to bolster the US oil, gas and power industries and put a brake on former President Joe Biden’s efforts to accelerate the electric vehicle industry.
Biden came into the White House vowing to wean the US off fossil fuels, but US oil and gas production hit record levels under his watch as drillers chased high prices in the wake of sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
“The inflation crisis was caused by massive over-spending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency,” Trump said in his inauguration speech in the US Capitol. “We will drill, baby, drill.”
A Trump official speaking earlier in the day did not provide details on the national emergency, but Trump and his allies have signalled they would use the authority to rapidly approve new oil, gas, and electricity projects that typically take years to permit.
