Despite heaps of evidence to the contrary, the White House issued orders on Jan. 20 claiming that the country has “insufficient energy production, transportation, refining, and generation” and that it is “in the national interest to unleash America’s affordable and reliable energy.”

The first order calls for the heads of federal agencies to use “any lawful emergency authorities available to them” to “facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on federal lands.”

In reality, the U.S. does not have an energy emergency, even according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

As of June, the U.S. was producing 13.6 million barrels of oil per day, according to the latest EIA data available. That is more than any month in over a century and continues a trend of rising oil production that began in 2010. Following a brief dip in 2020 caused by the global pandemic, the U.S. resumed producing more oil than any country in the world, including record production on federal lands.

Natural gas production also reached a record high. American companies are extracting more than enough natural gas for domestic consumption – and exporting the rest overseas as liquefied natural gas (LNG). In December, before Trump took office, U.S. natural gas production in the Lower 48 reached a record high of 118.5 billion cubic feet per day, surpassing the previous record of 117.8 billion cubic feet per day in February 2024.

As of June, this had decreased slightly to 107.4 billion cubic feet per day – a figure still higher than any other natural gas production for the month of June going back to 1973, according to the EIA.

Solar and wind energy production has also continued to steadily rise, reaching record highs each year. In fact, the only types of energy to see production decline in the U.S. over the past 20 years are coal, which has increasingly been replaced by natural gas, and hydroelectric, whose production has decreased slightly since the early 2000s.

The U.S. electric grid also “has been and continues to be very reliable,” according to a January 2024 assessment by the U.S. Department of Energy. More than 90 percent of power interruptions are “largely due to falling trees, fires, wildlife, and traffic accidents” that caused downed wires or other damage.

The U.S. is likely to see electricity demand increase for data centers for artificial intelligence. Data centers made up 4.4 percent of total electricity demand in 2023, a share that could increase to 6.7-12 percent by 2028, according to a December 2024 report by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Former U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the country “can meet this growth with clean energy,” such as solar and wind projects that have faced opposition from the current administration.

In response to Trump’s “emergency” executive orders, agencies have resumed issuing permits for  projects meant to ship more oil and gas abroad. In February, for example, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation approved the Texas GulfLink oil export terminal off the coast of Texas, issuing an announcement that cited Trump’s order.

After the Biden Administration paused approvals of liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities – a move ultimately blocked by the courts – Trump’s energy emergency order directed agencies to  "restart reviews of applications for approvals of liquified natural gas export projects as expeditiously as possible."

Between January and August, the Department of Energy issued seven export approvals. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Maritime Administration also finalized at least 10 LNG-related actions to build new facilities and expand capacity. The most recent was Commonwealth LNG in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, which received its final approval Aug. 29.

Pipeline company Williams also invoked Trump’s false energy emergency when it reapplied in May 2025 for a certificate allowing the construction of the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, a natural gas pipeline crossing under part of the New York/New Jersey Harbor. The project has faced massive opposition for its potential to harm undersea habitats and the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The “energy emergency” has also been used to justify shortcutting the permitting process to build in wetlands, which is overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers. In response to Trump’s order, the Corps earlier this year identified hundreds of projects nationwide that would alter or destroy wetlands for fast-track review.

The Environmental Integrity Project highlighted these in a February 2025 news conference and press release, arguing the “energy emergency” reviews were illegal because there is no real energy emergency in the U.S. and because Army Corps regulations define “emergency” to mean natural disasters that threaten major loss of property or life. After EIP protested the issue, the Army Corps the next day said it was revising its list of 688 projects and took it offline. EIP has since identified 27 wetlands permit applications that mention the energy emergency order, though the Corps has not said how many are on the fast-track list.

“Americans have the right to know how the president is operating a shadowy operation to discard vital protections for endangered species and the nation’s wetlands,” said Ivan Ditmars, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, which sued the administration in August for access to records on the accelerated wetlands permits.

Contrary to its argument that the U.S. needs more energy, the Trump Administration has shown hostility to wind and solar power, currently the cheapest and fastest growing sources of new electricity. 

Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” signed into law in July will phase out tax credits for these renewable energy sources after certain cutoff dates. The administration followed up with an executive order that further restricted those energy production credits.

In August 2025, the administration also ordered a halt to construction on the nearly completed Revolution Wind project off the New England coast, citing vague concerns of “national security.”

“Wind and solar are the cheapest forms of energy today … and there’s no economic justification for proceeding with these executive orders,” said Andrea Rodgers, deputy director of U.S. strategy for Our Children’s Trust, a nonprofit suing the Trump Administration on behalf of 22 children and youth over the energy “emergency” declaration and other orders promoting fossil fuels.

Haley Nicholson, staff attorney with Public Trust, which argued the case in a federal court in Montana last week, said that “these executive orders do not decrease energy prices.”

“They do not increase energy security,” Nicholson said. “They do not ensure a reliable supply of energy. In fact, these orders do the opposite.”

Heavy reliance on natural gas for electricity – and for LNG exports – are actually increasing the cost of energy for U.S. consumers, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Growing international demand for natural gas, which is also the main fuel used to generate electricity in the U.S., is expected to contribute to a more than doubling of natural gas prices over the next few years.

In May, Washington and 14 other states sued the Trump Administration over what they said is a false energy “emergency” and fast-tracking of permits to build energy projects in wetlands and in other environmentally sensitive areas. 

Nick Brown, attorney general of Washington, said Trump’s order is “all about eliminating competition and shackling America to dirty fossil fuels forever.”

Lead photo: Corpus Christi LNG in Texas. Photo by Garth Lenz / Flight by SouthWings.