Trump Administration

U.S. Energy Industry Trends To Watch In A 2025 Trump Presidency

New Trump administration policies will impact the energy industry, but maybe not in the ways Trump supporters expect, writes Guest Contributor Allan Marks.

Allan Marks is a partner at Milbank LLP and a lecturer at UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law. This article was originally published in Forbes, for which he is a contributor, on November 7, 2024. When Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office in January 2025, his second presidency will have …

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Trump-Proofing Time at the California Legislature?

Governor Newsom has called a special session for December 2nd. How can California lawmakers ensure California’s climate and environmental progress in the years ahead?

During the last Trump administration, California emerged as a serious counterweight to federal government backsliding on climate and the environment, and last week, some California lawmakers publicly recommitted to resisting future Trump administration efforts to reduce environmental and climate protections. On November 7, Governor Newsom issued a proclamation calling the Legislature into a special session …

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President-Elect Trump vs. California: What Lies Ahead?

Credit: Freepik

Will It Be Environmental Law & Policy Deja Vu All Over Again? Or Even Worse?

Californians who care about the environment likely–and justifiably–feel whipsawed this week.  Former President Trump (#45) has re-emerged as President-elect Trump (#47), interrupted by the intervening four years of the Biden-Harris presidential administration.  (Actually, this presidential whipsaw has been going on for decades: think Bush Sr.-Clinton-Bush Jr.-Obama-Trump-Biden-Trump redux.) In general, California’s progressive environmental laws and policies …

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The Dangerous Hypocrisy of Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants to slash government and regulations for a Trump administration—even though California regulations helped build his companies.

Our chances of helping avoid the most catastrophic climate disruptions just dimmed dramatically. Donald Trump’s victory and self-declared mandate means a lot of things—among them, that crucial climate and environmental policies are threatened like never before. There will be plenty to say in coming days about what this means for America’s role in the world …

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The Morning After

Given Trump’s victory, what can be done to save the planet?

wice before in this century, enemies of environmental protection have taken the helm.  After taking office, Bush embraced fossil fuels, opposed climate action, and weakened environmental regulations. Trump’s first term made Bush seem like a tree hugger, and his second term may be even worse.  The strategies we’ve used in the past are still applicable, though circumstances have changed. 

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Trump Can’t Stop the Clean Energy Transformation

The global transformation to an economy fueled by clean energy can’t be stopped. Trump could slow down U.S. progress though. 

Here’s an uncontroversial proposition: if Donald Trump wins the election (a horrific thought), we will make less progress in attacking climate change than if Kamala Harris wins.  His most recent remarks on climate were appalling: “They say global warming, they used to call it global warming but now they call it climate change. You know …

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Six Sleeper Proposals in Project 2025

Project 2025 isn’t just its headline proposals. It’s a thorough, detailed attack on environmental protection.

Project 2025’s proposals involve reduced protection for endangered species, eliminating energy efficiency rules, blocking new transmission lines, changing electricity regulation to favor fossil fuels, weakening air pollution rules, and encouraging sale of gas guzzlers. There’s some pious talk about protecting the environment, but every proposal calls for weakening environmental protections.

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The Walz-Vance Debate and Environmental Policy

After Hurricane Helene, Vance and Walz were pressed on climate change during the VP debate. Here’s everything they said on energy and the environment.

The subject of climate-fueled disasters figured prominently in the vice presidential debate. The CBS News moderators asked a question about climate change within the first few minutes, although the multi-faceted answers weren’t always factual and much of the post-debate discussion in newsrooms and spin room interviews centered on contentious yet civil exchanges on immigration and …

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Climate Policy After the 2024 Election

In this UCLA Emmett Institute webinar, panelists discussed the climate implications of the 2024 election from the state, national, and international perspective.

Climate certainty. Legislative action. Whipsaw regulations. An exodus of civil servants. Chinese leadership despite being the world’s largest emitter. Those are a few of the possible outcomes of the Nov. 5 presidential election, according to our panelists.  More than in any previous election, the two major candidates’ track records on environmental policies are well-established and …

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The Contract with America

Or, as some critics called it, “the Contract ON America.”

The Contract with America was the brainchild of Newt Gingrich. It was a turning point in American politics: moving the GOP from compromise to confrontation, nationalizing what had previously been locally oriented House races, and shifting the GOP far to the right. There’s a reason they call Gingrich the man who broke Congress.

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