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Among the President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office were a number targeting climate action and the energy sector. 

Trump on Monday, Jan. 20, delivered orders to peel back environmental justice initiatives and protections enacted by President Joe Biden, exit the Paris Climate Accord and boost domestic oil and gas production.   

During his inauguration address, Trump said his orders were “all about common sense.” 

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“With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense,” Trump said.  

What Trump ordered

During his inauguration speech and in a subsequent order, Trump declared a national energy emergency, repeating his campaign promise to “drill, baby, drill.” 

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This claims that expanding the country’s domestic energy infrastructure “is an immediate and pressing priority” to protect its national and economic security. For the most part, the order supports the domestic production of fossil fuels — leaving wind and solar power out of its definition for energy — by removing or suspending barriers to production in environmental protections. 

Another broad order — titled — directed a review of agency activities that could be hindering domestic energy resources and repealed 12 executive orders from the Biden administration related to clean energy initiatives. It directs the government to terminate the Green New Deal, requiring agencies to “immediately pause” funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, including those appropriated to electric vehicle adoption and infrastructure, clean energy tax credits and more. 

It remains unknown whether the order will impact several other environmental projects funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, including the $388.3 million from the funds allocated to drought mitigation efforts. This included 16 projects on the Western Slope including $40 million to support the Colorado River District’s acquisition of the Shoshone water rights.  

Among the Biden-era initiatives repealed by the broad energy order were directives that created the Climate Change Support Office, which addressed the climate crisis and more. 

These were not the only orders that promoted oil and gas and other resource extraction at the expense of renewable energy sources. One on drilling and extraction in Alaska and another for offshore wind energy projects and the suspension/review of current federal wind leasing and approvals. 

Trump also ordered the U.S. to pull out of the Paris Agreement, an international treaty signed by 196 parties in 2016 aimed at reducing countries’ carbon emissions. It will take one year for the U.S. to withdraw. Iran, Libya and Yemen are the only international nations currently not part of the agreement.  

The same also directs the U.S. to pull back from any commitments, financial or otherwise, that were part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Will these actions impact Colorado? 

The direct impacts, if any, of these orders to Colorado are still largely unknown. 

A spokesperson from Gov. Jared Polis’s office said that they were “analyzing the language of the emergency declaration” to determine if there would be any impacts. 

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Erin Overturf, director of clean energy at Western Resources Advocates, a group advocating for climate progress, said that while the actions will create roadblocks it “won’t stop Colorado’s energy transition and climate leadership.”

“We’ve been through this before – Colorado was leading on clean energy policies throughout Trump’s first term, through legislation, utility actions and state policy decisions,” Overturf said. “State-level policy has always been our most potent — and durable — tool to advance the energy transition and prevent the worst harms of climate change.” 

The overall shift in policy directions has raised alarms for some. 

“Trump’s attacks on the environment will set our nation back on climate progress and air and water pollution,” said Garrett Royer, the acting director of the Sierra Club’s Colorado chapter.

Royer also emphasized the power Colorado and other states have to enforce local measures to reduce emissions and increase sustainability.

Will Roush, executive director of the Wilderness Workshop, referred to the orders around environment and energy as “deeply out of touch with the high value that Westerners have for public lands and their protection and reflect a complete lack of understanding of the significant amount of energy production that is already happening on public lands.”

If fully implemented, the executive orders “could cause significant harm to wildlife, clean water and the western way of life,” Roush added. 

The policy shift under Trump, Royer added, is an indication that “instead of addressing the underlying problems Americans are facing with affordability, climate disasters and inequality, Trump would rather make performative proclamations on behalf of his billionaire buddies and their exploitative industries.”

Kathleen Sgamma, the president of Western Energy Alliance, a group representing oil and gas interests across nine states, said that “federal issues pale in comparison” to the regulatory challenges posed by the state government to the industry. 

“The most immediate effects would be on federal lands on the West(ern) Slope, as federal impediments will be eased,” Sgamma said. “However, even there, the state will continue to be a roadblock, so we’ll be looking at ways the new administration can work through the state roadblocks and develop the energy that all Americans own from federal lands in Colorado.”

While the orders could expand plans for energy development and fossil fuel extraction on all public lands, one specific area of concern for some environmental groups in Colorado is the Thompson Divide. The nearly 222,000 acres of Western Slope land were named in a of ​​​​, a conservative agenda that made recommendations for the Trump administration. The section proposed revoking recent protections given by Biden, barring from the site for the next two decades. 

Roush, whose organization was a key leader in securing the Thompson Divide protections, said “if any attempt is made to rescind the Administrative Withdrawal protecting the Thompson Divide, it would be going against a bipartisan, decades-long, ground-up community effort to protect a place the locals love and cherish.” 

The oil and gas industry has not indicated that drilling at the site is a priority area. Gunnison Energy supported the withdrawal. Sgamma the site was not the top priority for her organization. 

Many of these orders are expected to face pushback and legal recourse in some instances as advocates continue to push for climate action at state and local levels where inroads can be made. 

“Climate scientists have been ringing the alarm bells for a long time. The longer we delay meaningful climate action the more it will cost us down the line,” Royer said. “But our potential to make a difference in our states and to build a movement for larger climate action and investment remains possible if we organize and act.”