The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump has the opportunity to reshape U.S. energy and environmental policy, but it should keep a few things in mind when doing so, the Manhattan Institute said in a report Monday. “An agenda that maximizes the potential of America’s natural resources while striking a better balance between industry and environmental protection could unleash substantial economic growth and job creation at no cost to taxpayers,” the report says.
The Trump team should take four key steps to improve the nation’s energy and environmental policy, according to the Manhattan Institute: streamline the permitting processes for energy infrastructure projects; open more public lands and waters to mining and drilling; refocus climate policy to include natural gas electricity generation as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and suspend the Clean Air Act’s New Source Performance Standards, which require that new greenhouse gas-emitting facilities meet specific emissions limits.
“America’s current approach to environmental regulation involves imposing economic costs that it cannot afford in return for marginal improvements in air quality that it does not need. By suspending CAA’s New Source Performance Standards, America can achieve a better balance that preserves the environmental gains made while emphasizing economic growth and job creation for the future,” the report says.