Experts: Trump executive orders lack solid legal ground — and logic

CLEAN ENERGY: Experts say President Trump’s executive orders test the boundaries of presidential power and lack coherent logic: ​“If there really were an energy emergency,” one economist said, he should focus on scaling up all forms of energy production and not attacking clean energy. (New York Times)

ALSO: Trump’s executive orders did not mention specific energy and climate policies he’d like his administration to review, which observers say opens up a wide range of policies to potential revocation or revision. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Trump’s revocation of federal incentives for electric vehicle purchases, charger installations, and EV factory construction could put EV makers further behind foreign competition, experts say. (New York Times)

CLIMATE:

• Advocates say state-level progress will be key to continuing climate action as Trump takes office and targets federal clean energy programs. (Inside Climate News)
• Advocates worry the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement could spark departures from other countries where leadership is tilting to the right. (Axios)

WIND:

• East Coast officials and advocates assess the likely impact of President Trump’s pause on new offshore wind permits, with some expressing optimism that most ongoing developments will be unaffected and others worrying about stranded investments, job losses, and delayed progress toward climate goals. (WBUR, Boston Globe, Maine Morning Star)
• Trump’s wind permitting ban also includes a directive for administration officials to find ways to ​“terminate or amend” current leases. (New York Times)
• Trump issues an executive order halting work on the recently approved Lava Ridge wind project in southern Idaho, saying it ​“is allegedly contrary to the public interest and suffers legal deficiencies.” (Idaho Statesman)

POLITICS: Republicans envision increased oil and gas leasing as a way to pay for President Trump’s promised tax cuts, but fossil fuel production is already at record highs and recent lease sales have been disappointing. (E&E News)

EFFICIENCY: In his last days in office, former President Biden approved federal funding to support rebates for energy-efficient appliances in more than 20 states. (WHYY)

COAL ASH: A still-incomplete study has already documented more than 100 sites holding an estimated 200 million tons of coal ash across the six-state Mid-Atlantic watershed that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. (Bay Journal)

EMISSIONS: A California startup looks to scale up its cement-making process that absorbs carbon emissions and replace the current widespread process that’s responsible for 8% of the world’s carbon emissions. (Canary Media)