Explained: how Trump’s day one orders reveal a White House for big oil
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From LNG to drilling in Alaska, here’s everything you need to know about Trump’s energy and climate executive orders. Through a flurry of executive orders, a newly inaugurated Donald Trump has made clear his support for the ascendancy of fossil fuels, the dismantling of support for cleaner energy and the United States’ exit from the fight to contain the escalating climate crisis.
![[natural gas flare burns near an oil pump jack]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/3fed5df9e50d5fae3722edf6432ebdfe7ed5444e/0_0_4000_2666/master/4000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“We will drill, baby, drill,” the president said in his inaugural address on Monday. “We have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have – the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it. We’re going to use it.”.
![[a sign reads ‘Trump climate disaster’]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d5c2f730cce8d94e40c0bdbf1245635dc67df79c/0_0_8007_5338/master/8007.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Trump has promised to cut Americans’ energy costs in half within a year and he claimed removing all restraints on drilling for “liquid gold” will achieve this, even though the US is already producing more oil and gas than any other country in history.
![[a man in a suit speaks in front of a sign that reads ‘climate change’]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e65face6085120a8298bfefdfaebb8eeec0fdac7/0_0_3147_2098/master/3147.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Climate treaties, wind energy and electric vehicles are not part of this vision, with Trump signing orders to ditch or stymie them. Scientists say the world must urgently move away from fossil fuels to avoid the ever-worsening impacts of the climate crisis, as evidenced by last year being the hottest ever recorded and Los Angeles suffering ruinous wildfires.
![[an aerial view of a liquid natural gas facility]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5a4cd750e06a9ca8ac3e2676be0f97a65061602f/0_0_5464_3640/master/5464.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
It was a good day, though, for the fossil fuel executives who poured tens of millions of dollars into Trump’s election campaign. Some celebrated a few blocks away from the inauguration in Washington at a party where they sipped champagne and nibbled on pastries with Trump’s face on them.
![[an aerial view of caribou]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/85387f1473dca10c75eb747a36cf0da07f3a5b23/0_0_3000_1800/master/3000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
