KLAS: ‘An economic blow to Nevada’: Trump’s executive order on energy has wide implications
- Jan 21
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 19
by: Greg Haas
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Solar energy projects are in danger as officials evaluate the waves produced by President Donald Trump’s executive order that commands “Terminating the Green New Deal,” officials said Tuesday.
Sweeping language in Trump’s order prioritizing gas and oil energy projects has initiated a scramble in the federal government to determine how far the executive order will eventually reach. It puts an immediate halt on funding appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Solar fields, wind farms — even the Brightline West electric train project between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles areas — are likely losers on the new energy playing field.
“The President’s executive order is an economic blow to Nevada, on top of being unconstitutional. Are we going to cancel Brightline? Are we going to lay off thousands of workers. Sounds like working Nevadans lose so Trump can give payouts to billionaires,” Democratic Representative Susie Lee said.
The promise of jobs and an economic injection built around renewable energy had amped up Nevada’s profile as one of the nation’s leaders over the past few years. With the stroke of a pen, Trump changed the nation’s priorities with his “Unleashing American Energy” executive order.
“A number of President Trump’s day-one executive orders could halt infrastructure, conservation, and drought funding,” said a spokesperson for Democratic Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.
“That’s a bad deal for Nevada. The text of his executive orders are legally unsound, dangerously vague, and over-broad, and the Trump Administration should provide real answers to Nevadans about how this will impact our state,” the spokesperson said.
In addition to the uncertainty now surrounding renewable energy, Trump directed the federal government to “to encourage energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf, in order to meet the needs of our citizens and solidify the United States as a global energy leader long into the future.”
In Nevada, where more than 80% of the land is controlled by the federal government, that pivot to gas and oil — along with renewed mining (uranium is specified, lithium is not) — could overturn recent decisions to develop solar and block exploration.
Trump’s action revokes 12 Biden administration executive orders that set the renewable energy agenda. The new agenda will largely follow the path of what is most profitable for the United States. Some of the goals of Biden’s agenda have become part of state law, leading to possible conflicts.
In addition to policies favoring fossil fuels, the order pulls the plug on projects like charging stations for electric vehicles and policies that favored conversion to EVs.
Section 7 of the executive order sets up a power struggle with Congress by stopping federal agencies from spending money that has already been appropriated. The first part of the section says:
Sec. 7. Terminating the Green New Deal. (a) All agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58), including but not limited to funds for electric vehicle charging stations made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, and shall review their processes, policies, and programs for issuing grants, loans, contracts, or any other financial disbursements of such appropriated funds for consistency with the law and the policy outlined in section 2 of this order. Within 90 days of the date of this order, all agency heads shall submit a report to the Director of the NEC and Director of OMB that details the findings of this review, including recommendations to enhance their alignment with the policy set forth in section 2. No funds identified in this subsection (a) shall be disbursed by a given agency until the Director of OMB and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy have determined that such disbursements are consistent with any review recommendations they have chosen to adopt.
See the full text of the executive order here: Unleashing American Energy
By broadly stopping funding, the executive order has implications that reach far beyond just energy policy. Transportation projects including Brightline West are swept up in the net. Department of Agriculture projects and funding for water conservation projects are also in limbo.
It’s a minefield that federal agencies are just figuring out how to navigate.
As an example, a newsletter released Tuesday by nonpartisan think-tank Eno Center for Transportation reports that the Federal Highway Administration has shut down its computer systems that allow states to request disbursements for work that is already complete.
“This effectively shuts down the $61 billion per year agency, temporarily and until further notice,” the newsletter said.
The executive order’s broad attack on anything under Inflation Reduction Act or the law commonly called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will extend to projects that Trump supports.
8 News Now reached out to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for reaction to the executive order, but we have not received a reply. BLM manages the federal land where most of the lease agreements for solar farms will be located. We also reached out to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which is responsible for managing the Colorado River. Many of the conservation agreements funded by the federal government could be affected.
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