April 11, 2025 – President Trump signed a major executive order titled “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach.” It sends a clear message: no state has the authority to block, punish, or override national energy policy through politically motivated climate laws.
The order calls on the U.S. Attorney General to review and challenge any state or local actions that unlawfully restrict the development, siting, production, or use of American energy resources. This includes oil, gas, coal, nuclear, hydropower, and emerging technologies like geothermal and critical minerals. It also prioritizes legal action against retroactive penalties and state regulations aimed at imposing climate-based fines on energy producers.
At Fueling Freedom, we strongly support this move. It reinforces what we believe at our core: American families deserve affordable energy, reliable infrastructure, and job opportunities that are not disrupted by ideological policies in a few powerful states.
The Threat: State-Level Overreach
Several states have adopted extreme energy regulations that attempt to reshape national policy without regard for constitutional limits. For example:
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New York and Vermont have introduced retroactive penalty schemes targeting traditional energy producers for emissions that occurred decades ago, in some cases outside their own borders.
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California continues to impose aggressive carbon caps and credit programs that place an unfair burden on businesses, driving up fuel and utility costs.
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Other states have delayed permit applications, filed lawsuits for so-called “climate damages,” or used environmental justice language to justify blanket restrictions.
These actions do more than hurt energy companies. They raise costs for every American family, stifle innovation, and threaten our national security by making us more dependent on foreign energy sources.
What the Executive Order Does
President Trump’s directive gives the Attorney General the authority to:
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Identify any state or local laws that interfere with federal energy priorities or violate constitutional protections
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Prioritize cases involving climate-related penalties, ESG mandates, and carbon taxation
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Take legal action to stop enforcement of these laws
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Recommend additional legislative or executive actions to restore a unified national energy policy
In doing so, the federal government is reinforcing the idea that energy production and access should not depend on the political preferences of a few state governments.
How This Executive Order Prioritizes Fueling Freedom’s Principles
This executive order closely aligns with the mission and public policy goals of Fueling Freedom. Each of our six pillars is supported by the steps taken in this order.
President Trump’s executive order, Protecting American Energy From State Overreach, does more than challenge ideologically driven regulations—it reinforces the foundation of a strong, secure, and forward-looking energy strategy. At Fueling Freedom, our mission is built on six core pillars that define how energy policy should serve the American people. This order advances each of these priorities in clear and measurable ways.
1. Energy Exploration and Development
Energy security begins with access. Across the country, energy producers are facing legal threats and regulatory hostility that delay or deny exploration projects. This order ensures that no state can unfairly restrict access to federally approved resources or penalize producers for prior, lawful operations. By defending energy companies from retroactive lawsuits and politically motivated fines, the federal government is clearing the path for new drilling, mining, and siting across both public and private lands. This helps unlock domestic oil, natural gas, coal, and critical minerals that are essential to maintaining a reliable national supply.
2. Regulatory Reform and Deregulation
Overregulation has long been used as a tool to obstruct energy progress. Some states have adopted aggressive carbon accounting schemes, permit slowdowns, and environmental justice mandates that have little basis in science or law. The executive order pushes back against this trend. It empowers the Attorney General to identify and challenge state actions that violate federal authority or create de facto energy bans. This kind of legal clarity is a cornerstone of true regulatory reform—ensuring that rules are consistent, practical, and focused on outcomes, not ideology.
3. Energy Infrastructure Investment
Pipelines, LNG terminals, refineries, and power generation facilities are the backbone of any energy system. Unfortunately, politically motivated permitting delays and state-level opposition have derailed billions of dollars in infrastructure investment in recent years. By asserting federal authority over energy commerce, this order helps prevent states from acting as gatekeepers. It protects interstate and international infrastructure from being blocked by a few states trying to impose their preferences on the rest of the country. This ensures that critical projects can move forward and that America’s energy grid remains modern, efficient, and resilient.
4. Technological Innovation
Energy innovation thrives in a stable legal and regulatory environment. When companies face constant legal threats or uncertainty over whether their projects will be allowed to proceed, they are less likely to invest in the next generation of cleaner, more efficient technologies. This executive order helps restore predictability to the policy landscape. It gives energy producers and developers the confidence to pursue advancements in cleaner fossil fuel production, nuclear generation, hydrogen development, and carbon capture. In short, it protects the conditions necessary for America to lead the world in energy innovation.
5. Economic Growth and Job Creation
The energy sector supports over 10 million direct and indirect jobs in the United States, from roughnecks and rig workers to engineers, welders, and port operators. When producers are forced to fight lawsuits in multiple states or navigate conflicting regulations, they delay projects, cut payrolls, and reduce investments in local communities. By ensuring consistent, nationwide rules, this executive order helps preserve existing jobs and create new ones. It strengthens the economic ecosystems of energy-producing regions and ensures that energy development remains a powerful driver of middle-class opportunity.
6. Global Energy Leadership
For the United States to lead on the world stage, we must be a reliable source of energy for ourselves and our allies. Policies that allow a handful of states to shut down energy production or block exports weaken our influence and embolden our adversaries. This order reinforces the idea that American energy policy must be national in scope. It protects the ability of U.S. companies to deliver LNG to Europe, oil to our refineries, and electricity to our growing cities. When we lead with strength and supply, we not only protect our own economy—we help stabilize global markets and build lasting diplomatic leverage.
President Trump’s executive order is more than a legal directive—it is a strategic reset. It reinforces the principle that energy policy should serve the entire nation, not be dictated by the preferences of a few states. At Fueling Freedom, we see this as a defining moment in the fight to protect American energy independence and ensure a prosperous, secure future for all Americans.
A United Energy Strategy for a Stronger America
Energy policy should reflect national priorities, not regional politics. When a small group of states attempts to control the direction of American energy through lawsuits, penalties, and carbon schemes, they are not just disrupting markets—they are interfering with the lives and livelihoods of families in all 50 states.
This executive order is a much-needed reset. It reaffirms the federal government’s role in protecting energy access, ensures legal consistency across state lines, and prevents the spread of costly and unproven regulatory experiments.
At Fueling Freedom, we believe that energy independence is a national project. President Trump’s executive order makes it clear that American energy is not something to be punished or politicized. It is something to be protected, strengthened, and shared.
This is the kind of leadership we support. This is how we power growth, protect jobs, and fuel freedom.