The Energy Freedom Plan: 112 specific actions the new admin can take to unleash American energy
I've spent the last 18 months compiling the highest-leverage ways to unleash American energy. Here are the results.
I've spent the last 18 months talking to the some of the smartest energy researchers, lawyers, policymakers, and business leaders about the highest-leverage ways to unleash American energy.
Here's the result: 5 goals, 24 objectives, and 112 specific actions the new administration can take to unleash abundant, affordable, American energy—leading to a better economy, a lower cost of living, lower inflation, more job opportunities, a lower deficit, greater security, and a better environment.
(Of course nothing I say here should be taken to reflect the views of the new administration, which I am not a part of. That said, I hope it pursues many of these policy ideas.)
Most readers won't want to read through all 112 specific actions, so I encourage you to start by searching for your favorite topic, e.g., "nuclear" or "electricity" or "climate." I guarantee you'll find something interesting.
Goal 1: Unleash responsible development
Anti-development policies prevent the drilling, mining, transporting, and building all energy needs to reach its potential—from natural gas to nuclear to solar. Liberating responsible development will create unprecedented US energy abundance.
Objective: Unleash responsible development on federal lands/waters
Anti-development policies prevent us from tapping enormous energy reserves on federal lands/waters. Responsible development can unlock the full energy potential of ¼ of the US (!) while protecting environmental quality.
Instruct the Bureau of Land Management to resume conducting quarterly oil and gas lease sales in all eligible states.
This will increase US energy production by making more public lands available for oil and gas drilling, and create confidence for future investment on those lands.Instruct BLM to rescind Resource Management Plans that would eliminate coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, then reprioritize coal leasing.
This will unlock some of the world's best coal, which can be profitably exported to help meet record international demand.Instruct BLM to rescind the Public Lands Rule that would reduce access to large areas of public lands for energy development.
This will promote energy development and protect the crucial principle of "multiple-use" for federal lands.Instruct BLM to rescind the anti-energy sections of the Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Rule, which increase the minimum lease bond price by 15x and stop leasing on many crucial lands.
This will keep lands attractive rather than driving away developers with huge upfront costs.Instruct BLM to rescind restrictions on energy development imposed by the prior administration in the name of protecting various Sage Grouses.
This will safeguard energy development on more than a quarter of BLM lands without endangering any species.Instruct BLM to open the 1002 Area of ANWR (Alaska National Wildlife Refuge—just 8% of the 19.6 million acres—for its intended purpose of oil and gas development.
This will allow Americans to reap immense value from a small portion of uninhabited, energy-rich land.Instruct BLM to open the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A), a 23-million-acre expanse in northern Alaska, to energy development.
This will allow Americans to reap value from a small portion of a largely unused area the size of Indiana.Instruct BLM to ensure that federal coal, oil, and gas lease sales offer the maximum lands legally eligible for leasing.
This will open millions of acres that were unlawfully closed off by the prior administration.Instruct BLM to ensure that all its lease sales are commercially attractive—no more phony lease sales of things no one wants.
This will help unleash profitable development of America's oil and gas resources while fully complying with the Mineral Leasing Act.Instruct BLM to limit onerous "Areas of Critical Environmental Concern" land designations to regions that genuinely qualify, e.g, where necessary to prevent "irreparable damage."
This will prevent the abuse of ACEC to stop energy development for little or no benefit.Instruct BLM to dramatically reduce the time it takes to process applications for permits to drill on federal lands—an amount of time that has been unconscionably high.
This will allow industry to speedily ramp up responsible oil and gas production.Instruct BLM to exclude drilling permit applications under completed lease sales from an unnecessary duplicate environmental review.
This will significantly speed up drilling on public lands without harming environmental quality.Instruct BLM to authorize the Ambler Road project in Alaska that was unjustly blocked by the prior administration.
This will open access to major deposits of much-needed critical minerals in the mineral-rich Ambler District in Alaska.Instruct BOEM to significantly expand offshore oil and gas lease sales in the western Gulf of Mexico—from less than 1 to at least 2 sales per year.
This will unlock access to billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.Instruct FWS to tailor protections for "threatened" species to their specific needs, vs automatically extending stricter "endangered" species rules.
This will limit the rights-violating practice of preventing landowners from using their property when certain species are present.Instruct FWS to stop entering into "sue-and-settle" agreements with activist groups to blanket list species as "endangered" or "threatened" without thorough individual review.
This will prevent economic destruction in the name of "protecting" perfectly healthy species.Instruct NMFS to lift regulations that restrict energy development in the Gulf of Mexico on the basis of speculative harms to the newly invented Rice’s Whale "species."
This will help unlock the potential of the Gulf’s rich oil and gas resources without harming any species.Instruct all agencies to refrain from restricting energy development on federal property for the sake of environmental preservation unless the activity has empirically been shown to be harmful.
This will minimize bogus rules that stop energy development for no good reason.
Objective: Limit NEPA
The leading source of project delays is the abuse of NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) to require endless environmental reviews. Dramatically limiting NEPA's complexity and scope will help all energy reach its potential, from oil to nuclear to geothermal.
Instruct CEQ, consistent with a recent decision from the DC Circuit, to renounce its self-assumed authority to regulate how agencies comply with NEPA.
This will free agencies of unnecessarily onerous procedures and enable them conduct far more efficient NEPA reviews.Instruct all federal agencies to issue their own NEPA-implementing regulations limited to analyzing direct, proximal effects of actions.
This will provide widespread relief from NEPA and minimize the risk that a post-CEQ regime will revert back to outdated judicial precedent.
The following 3 actions apply if CEQ does not renounce its authority to regulate NEPA.
Instruct CEQ to define "major federal actions" with "significant effects" under NEPA as those estimated to exceed $100 million in negative impacts.
This will spare smaller projects from incredibly onerous, multi-year Environmental Impact Statement reviews under NEPA.Instruct CEQ to limit the scope of NEPA review to impacts within the US—not the global impacts, often highly speculative, that are "studied" to make NEPA even more onerous.
This will help prevent yet another costly abuse of NEPA.Instruct CEQ to eliminate the Phase II GHG Rules, which require agencies to conduct speculative analyses of their actions' downstream GHG emissions as part of their NEPA reviews.
This will speed up projects by providing relief from an inane, project-destroying requirement.Instruct DOJ to litigate with the position that the definition of actions with "significant impacts" under NEPA refers only to direct impacts—not speculative downstream impacts.
This will, if successful, prompt the courts to significantly narrow the scope of NEPA reviews.Instruct BLM to create a NEPA categorical exclusion for pipeline projects on federal lands.
This will expedite approvals of desperately-needed pipelines—especially the gas pipelines our grid needs—across the country without harming humans or wildlife.Instruct USACE to consider a categorical exclusion for pipeline projects if they cross federal waters, given that modern pipelines very rarely cause negative impacts.
This will expedite approvals for desperately needed pipeline projects without harming humans or wildlife.Instruct FERC to exclude GHG emissions from reviews of gas pipelines and LNG terminals, as GHGs are covered under other permitting.
This will expedite approvals for critical pipeline projects nationwide—projects our failing grid needs ASAP—without harming humans or wildlife.Instruct all agencies to maximize their use of categorical exclusions to exempt demonstrably safe projects from duplicative NEPA review.
This will significantly reduce delays, costs, and uncertainty for energy and industrial projects without increasing environmental threats.
Objective: Stop anti-development lawfare
Anti-development groups cause extensive energy delays by suing to stop projects they have no rightful say over. Limiting standing to those directly impacted by a project’s health or property risks will dramatically reduce delays.
Instruct DOJ to litigate with the position that "citizen suits" under the Clean Air Act improperly bypass the executive in regulating impacts.
This will reduce these harmful suits and facilitate a legal battle that could properly conclude that they are unconstitutional.Instruct DOJ to seek a vehicle by which to restrict the irrationally broad standing that Lujan v Defenders of Wildlife has given people for purely esthetic "injuries."
This will, if successful, greatly restrict the number of groups that can stop projects via frivolous lawsuits.
Objective: Stop inflating permitting requirements
The Biden administration added numerous requirements to our already onerous permitting processes—such as quantifying globally trivial GHG impacts. Limiting permitting to its legal scope will help us build crucial energy infrastructure.
Instruct EPA to model emissions from new facilities using probabilistic analysis of historical data, rather than absurdly assuming that all sources emit at maximum levels simultaneously.
This will prevent inflated estimates of air impacts that delay new projects.Instruct EPA to maximize its use of New Source Review's flexible permitting, which simplifies the review process for new facilities and modifications to old facilities.
This will encourage innovation and reduce costs for industrial facilities requiring frequent updates.Instruct EPA to exempt new facility operators with pending applications from redoing air quality modeling when a new standard is adopted.
This will reduce costs and increase regulatory certainty for new facilities as well as incentivize investments in new infrastructure.Instruct DOE and FERC to resume permit approvals for new LNG exports and export terminals as required by the NGA and the DPA (which designates energy as a strategic and critical material).
This will reverse the Biden administration's deadly LNG pause and boost US gas production.
Goal 2: End preferences for unreliable electricity
Our grid is being ruined by systemic preferences for unreliable electricity, which cause prices to rise and reliability to decline. Ending these preferences and prioritizing reliability is needed to make power cheap and reliable again.
Objective: Require grid regulators to reward reliability and punish unreliability
State/federal regulators have brought our grid to crisis by failing to address reliability problems and even actively favoring unreliable power. Requiring reliability is essential to our grid's future.
Instruct FERC to establish tech-neutral federal reliability standards requiring grid operators to assign capacity value to electricity resources based on past dispatchability performance.
This will massively improve grid reliability without unfairly preferring any energy source.Instruct EPA to calculate the firm capacity of solar and wind as the available backup or storage capacity.
This will get unreliable power off the grid and drive innovation in backup and storage solutions that could make intermittent electricity truly reliable.
Objective: Reform FERC to return to its mission of considering only cost, reliability, and safety
FERC is delaying vital gas infrastructure and failing to preserve grid reliability in the name of "climate." Focusing FERC will make both electricity and heating cheaper and more reliable.
Instruct FERC to rescind its 2022 GHG Consideration Notice, which mandates GHG and climate analyses of natural gas infrastructure projects—even though this cannot possibly matter on a global scale.
This will speed up permitting for much-needed pipelines and LNG terminals.
Objective: Remove/reduce subsidies for intermittent energy whenever possible
Solar and wind subsidies increase the cost of electricity and make the grid less reliable. Scrapping subsidies will help create real competition so we get the cheapest, most reliable electricity mix possible.
Instruct DOE to refocus its National Transmission Needs Study on identifying grid vulnerabilities, not catering to solar and wind expansion.
This will enable the efficient direction of resources towards strengthening the grid instead of socializing solar and wind's costs.Instruct DOE to limit special federal support for transmission corridors to those genuinely critical for grid reliability—no more abusing designations to prop up solar and wind.
This will fortify the grid against blackouts without unfairly preferring any particular technology.Instruct DOE to investigate and disclose federal agencies' purchases of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to falsely claim emissions-free operations.
This will expose a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars that defrauds the public into thinking government can run without fossil fuels.Instruct DOE and GAO to investigate federal agencies' use of energy storage batteries and publish a report comparing their cost-effectiveness to alternatives such as diesel generators.
This will hold agencies publicly accountable for a huge source of wasteful spending.Instruct DOE and OSTP to stop using "Levelized Cost of Energy" to compare energy costs, as it ignores huge intermittent energy costs like storage, backup, and transmission.
This will help dispel the myth perpetuated by LCOE that solar and wind are cheaper than fossil fuels.Instruct FTC to update its Green Guides to ban deceptive "100% renewable" claims by corporations that buy "Renewable Energy Credits" to falsely attribute their fossil fuel use to others.
This will dispel the deadly myth that businesses can run on solely solar and wind.
The following action applies if FTC updates the Green Guides to ban deceptive "100% renewable" claims.
Instruct DOJ to issue cease-and-desist letters to organizations falsely claiming their electricity purchases are emissions-free if they buy "Renewable Energy Credits."
This will help swiftly correct businesses' deceptive "100% renewable" claims so the public can learn the truth.Instruct Treasury to attach firming requirements as a condition for solar and wind operators to qualify for IRA tax credits.
This would force solar and wind to bear their own grid costs and minimize the damage of the IRA to our grid.Instruct FERC to require solar and wind generators to bear the full costs of the backup, storage, and transmission they need to provide reliable electricity.
This will end the unfair practice of socializing the costs of intermittent generation across ratepayers or the grid.Instruct FERC to investigate whether intermittent resources have a "capacity value" of zero and are therefore ineligible to offer into capacity markets.
This will, if successful, end undeserved capacity payments for solar and wind and redirect investment toward reliable energy.
Objective: End forced electrification
Given that reliable power is scarce and about to be far scarcer due to AI, forced electrification—e.g., EV mandates—will overload our grid in addition to destroying consumer choice. Free-market electrification is the moral and practical policy.
Instruct EPA to rescind its deliberately unachievable emission standards for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and replace them with achievable standards.
This will stop EPA's illegal partial ban on ICE cars and save consumers and automakers 100s of billions through 2055.Instruct EPA to rescind its onerous GHG standards for heavy-duty vehicles, which would require 45% electric trucks by 2032—and replace them with achievable standards.
This will prevent EPA’s illegal partial ban on ICE trucks and save automakers 100s of billions through 2055.Instruct EPA to withdraw its authorization for California to establish its own fuel economy standards, since this authority is exclusively federal under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
This will help prevent an 100% EV mandate in California and likely other states.Instruct EPA to withdraw its authorization for California's unlawful Advanced Clean Trucks program, which would mandate 40-75% electric trucks by 2035.
This will prevent a de facto EV truck mandate in California and other states poised to follow suit.Instruct EPA to withdraw it's authorization for California's unlawful Omnibus regulation, which imposes unachievably strict oxides of nitrogen (NOx) standards for gas trucks.
This will prevent a de facto EV truck mandate in California and other states poised to follow suit.Instruct EPA to reject or revoke approvals for state implementation plans for its latest PM2.5 standards that unlawfully contain EV mandates or fuel economy standards.
This will prevent states from embedding destructive EV mandates into air quality plans.Instruct NHTSA to rescind its overly stringent CAFE fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks, and replace them with cost-effective standards.
This will prevent excessive costs for internal-combustion vehicle buyers and safeguard customer choice in the automotive market.Instruct NHTSA to rescind its unachievable fuel economy standards for heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans, and replace them with achievable standards.
This will prevent a de facto partial ban on internal combustion vehicles by 2030.Instruct DOE to correct its fuel economy assumptions for EV battery performance, which significantly inflate the fuel efficiency of EVs.
This will eliminate 10s of billions in unfair cross-subsidies from ICE car buyers to EV buyers.Instruct DOE to revamp its Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) program to prioritize procuring reliable, low-cost energy solutions over "green" energy.
This will reduce costs and strengthen the resilience of federal operations.Instruct FTC to rescind its proposed EV labeling rules, which guide manufacturers to label battery EVs as zero-emissions vehicles despite their significant lifecycle emissions.
This will reduce government's participation in the myth that EVs can exist and operate without fossil fuels.Instruct GSA to rescind all federal procurement of cost-adding EVs and EV charging stations on federal property, as these violate the law by knowingly increasing costs to taxpayers.
This will cut wasteful spending and raise public awareness of how their money is being misused.
Goal 3: Set environmental standards based on cost-benefit analysis
The EPA harms prosperity and health via emissions standards that impose huge costs for little or no benefit. Real cost-benefit analysis, including objective health science will promote prosperity and environmental quality.
Objective: Objectively calculate environmental benefits
EPA justifies energy-destroying policies via absurdly inflated benefit calculations, e.g., claiming to save households $15K a year in health costs. Policies based on objective calculations will make us wealthier and healthier.
Instruct EPA to reject the Value of Statistical Life (VSL) method, which absurdly values delaying death by even one day at $10+ million, and instead calculate value based on average remaining life years.
This will end an economy-crushing practice that harms the young most of all.Instruct EPA to adjust its projected benefits of regulations to account for the often large uncertainties about their occurrence.
This will protect against the irrational practice of inflating benefit calculations by treating speculative benefits as guaranteed.Instruct EPA to adopt much higher discount rates for future benefit estimates given that Americans will be wealthier and better equipped to handle challenges in the future.
This will curb economy-stifling regulation targeting issues that economic growth will naturally overcome.Instruct EPA to stop claiming "co-benefits," or secondary benefits, of new regulations that are already achieved by other rules. No more double-counting benefits.
This will reduce redundant regulations and compel EPA to justify rules based on their primary objectives.Instruct EPA to restrict its cost-benefit analyses to impacts on Americans and US residents—no more GHG considerations tied to speculative foreign benefits. This will prevent the immoral sacrifice of American industry and the American people.
Objective: Rigorously consider the full cost of policies
EPA is destroying our grid by shutting down reliable power plants—and yet claims this is virtually costless! If EPA looks at the full cost of policies it will quickly see that power plant shutdowns fail the cost-benefit test.
Instruct EPA to include not just direct but also indirect costs in its regulatory cost estimates, e.g., reduced investment and plant closures.
This will correct a major double standard in cost-benefit analysis, given that EPA considers a wide swath of indirect benefits.Instruct EPA to account for the potential public health harms of its regulations, e.g., increased mortality linked to higher energy costs.
This will expose and prevent many instances where EPA policies would do more harm than good for human health, let alone in general.Instruct EPA to use a lower discount rate for quantifying the costs of forgone future investment than for forgone future consumption.
This will properly reflect the compounding economic value of investment and correct the current undervaluation of forgone investment costs.Instruct EPA to account for the barriers its regulations create for launching new facilities, not just operating existing ones.
This will prevent regulations that may seem innocent since they allow industry to remain afloat, but actually make it impossible for industry to grow.
Objective: Utilize rigorous health science, not health speculation
EPA often uses wild speculation, citing weak associations, in order to pursue a puritanical zero-emissions agenda. If EPA limits itself to rigorous health science it can be genuinely pro-health, not anti-industry.
Instruct EPA to use a weight-of-evidence framework to evaluate empirical data on the harms of regulated substances, applying percentage weights based on evidence quality.
This will compel EPA to assess evidence systematically and prevent regulations based on weak or biased data.Instruct EPA to abandon the Linear No Threshold (LNT) model that falsely assumes any exposure to substances like PM2.5 is harmful—and adopt a threshold-based model grounded in toxicology.
This will remove the pseudoscientific basis for EPA's damaging PM2.5 air quality standards.Instruct EPA to ensure that its regulations are achievable using commercially available technologies.
This will prevent the absurd practice of mandating unachievable emissions reductions (e.g., 90% CO2 capture) based on speculative and economically infeasible technologies.Instruct EPA to account for reasonably foreseeable adaptations to regulated side-effects (e.g., more efficient air filters that mitigate PM2.5 risks).
This will prevent inflated long-term benefit claims and reduce costly regulation where natural economic growth is sufficient.Instruct EPA to avoid imposing product pollution standards that require a change of products or key inputs (e.g., mandating EVs over gasoline cars or hydrogen over natural gas).
This will help prevent de facto product bans disguised as pollution control.Instruct EPA to fund at least two independent studies to determine if low concentrations of PM2.5 and ozone genuinely cause public health effects, including mortality.
This will reveal whether claims that stricter emission standards save lives are scientifically justified.
Objective: Require transparency in EPA research and communication
Opaqueness about its practices (e.g., "secret science") allows EPA to get away with failures to do proper cost-benefit analysis. Requiring transparency will improve the EPA by exposing its many problematic practices.
Instruct EPA to publish all models, data, and analytical procedures used in regulatory impact analyses to the extent permitted by law.
This will allow independent verification of analyses and push EPA to give genuine science-backed justification for its policies.Instruct EPA to only use scientific studies with data available for full third-party replication—no more "secret science."
This will finally hold EPA accountable for its poorly justified regulations and enable an honest public reckoning.Instruct EPA to require expert advisors and researchers to disclose all external affiliations, including funding sources, memberships, and employment history.
This will reveal when the EPA employs activists masquerading as impartial scientists—which happens all too often.Instruct EPA to preserve all interactions between EPA staff and EPA-funded scientists, to be made accessible under Freedom of Information Act requests.
This will deter researchers from succumbing to pressure to tailor studies towards EPA's preconceived conclusions.
Goal 4: Address climate danger through resilience and innovation, not punishing America
"Climate policy" that singles out US emissions makes us poorer and less resilient while global emissions go up. Becoming more resilient and unleashing innovation are the keys to climate safety.
Objective: Recognize today's unprecedented safety from climate danger
Government says we have a fossil fueled "climate crisis" even though fossil fuels have helped reduce climate-related disaster deaths by 98%. Recognizing climate reality is key to stopping deadly "climate policy."
Instruct USGCRP to rename the "National Climate Assessment" and refocus it on a balanced analysis of global trends—as is required by statute.
This will neutralize a major propaganda tool for climate alarmism and pave the way to overturn the GHG "Endangerment Finding."Instruct EPA to re-examine the 2009 "Endangerment Finding," which ignores the massive benefits of fossil fuels to conclude that GHGs endanger public health.
This will topple the legal foundation of the climate policy pyramid that is holding back American energy.Instruct EPA to ban the use of the unscientific FrEDI tool for modeling GHG effects, as it relies on wildly unrealistic emissions scenarios.
This will prevent agencies from making bogus claims that their GHG regulations will save billions of dollars or millions of lives.Instruct OMB to revise its Circular A-4 guidelines to prohibit using unrealistic scenarios predicting over 3°C warming above preindustrial levels by 2100.
This will topple the basis for some of America's most harmful climate policies—from the power plant rules to the EV mandate.Instruct all agencies to replace references to climate change as a "crisis" or "existential threat" with language reflecting our increasing climate resilience and the US's limited impact on global emissions.
This will help dispel the rationale behind ruinous "climate policy."
Objective: Unwind the "whole of government" approach to climate
The Biden administration has turned every nook and cranny of the federal government into an attacker of fossil fuels. Unwinding this entire apparatus will be difficult—but it's crucial to unleashing American energy.
Instruct EPA to review and consider rescinding its GHG emissions standards for power plants, which would effectively ban existing coal plants and new gas plants.
This will prevent an unmitigated grid reliability disaster at a time that we need far electricity.Instruct all agencies to halt Biden-mandated efforts to integrate fossil fuel reduction into their core missions if not statutorily required.
This will refocus agencies on their core missions and priorities, rather than a destructive and irrational "climate emergency" agenda.All agencies should rescind or revise all regulations, policies, guidance, and programs implemented under the "whole-of-government approach to climate."
This will stop the destructive targeting of fossil fuels and pave the way for pursuit of American energy leadership.
Objective: Withdraw from the Paris Agreement and other anti-energy agreements
Paris immorally calls for eliminating fossil fuels—the only near-term way to provide affordable, reliable energy for billions. Withdrawing is one of the best things we can do for ourselves and the world.
Instruct DOS to formally withdraw the US from the "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" (UNFCCC), including the Paris Agreement.
This will liberate America from its unconstitutional and disastrous commitment to rapidly reduce fossil fuel use.Instruct DOS to rescind Biden’s UN pledge that US taxpayers will pay “loss and damages” to other countries due to US GHG emissions.
This will prevent a gross abuse of taxpayer dollars and affirm that we owe no apologies for providing the world with affordable, reliable energy.Instruct DOS to withdraw from all UN Maritime Organization GHG agreements, which compel the US to buy costly emissions offsets for international shipping and replace diesel fuel with costly alternatives.
This will end a gross abuse of taxpayer dollars that makes America weaker.Instruct DOS to withdraw from the UN's ICAO CORSIA program, which compels US airlines to offset emissions with carbon credits or switch to highly expensive "Sustainable Aviation Fuel."
This will make US airliner operations more affordable.Instruct DOS to withdraw from all international climate pledges, including emissions-reductions agreements with China.
This will liberate America from commitments to sacrifice its economy and security to GHG reduction under the delusion that China and others will follow suit.Instruct DOS to rescind US adoption of the UN "Sustainable Development Goals" (SDGs) and direct agencies to eliminate their SDG-implementing programs.
This will decouple US policy from costly UN-driven ESG initiatives that weaken American economy and security.Instruct CFTC to rescind its guidance on Voluntary Carbon Offset Markets and declare that emission offsets are not commodities under CFTC jurisdiction.
This will safeguard against inappropriate and economically destructive government encroachment into voluntary carbon markets.
Objective: Fundamentally reform international bodies to embrace energy freedom
The US is part of numerous international bodies—IEA, IMF, World Bank, IPCC—that in one way or another attack energy freedom. It's time to wield our significant influence over these groups for good.
Instruct DOS to lead reform of the missions and leadership of the IEA, IMF, and World Bank to reject "net zero by 2050" policies and instead promote global energy abundance.
This will expand global energy access and drive economic growth without sacrificing American interests.
Objective: Stop using the "Social Cost of Carbon" (SCC) to oppose projects
The SCC, a biased number that ignores the benefits of fossil fuels and exaggerates the cost, is used to oppose vital projects. Stopping this practice will make it a lot easier to produce energy in the US.
Instruct OMB to reinstate the Trump 45 estimates for the SCC and to conduct public review and comment of the Biden estimates to further refine these numbers.
This will eliminate a key regulatory basis for harmful climate policies, from fuel efficiency rules to the methane fee.
Objective: Minimize wildfire damage via rigorous prevention
Rising wildfire damage is primarily a policy failure—e.g., "low-impact" management of forests and grasslands—not a climate problem. Rigorous prevention will prevent the kind of unmitigated disaster LA is experiencing.
Instruct BLM and USFS to maximize their use of categorical exclusions to exempt safe wildfire prevention measures like mechanical thinning and prescribed fires from NEPA review.
This will help wildfire prevention efforts and increase wildfire safety for both humans and wildlife.Instruct BLM and USFS to incorporate additional mechanical thinning, prescribed fires, firebreaks, and fuel breaks into their forest and resource management plans.
This will help prevent major wildfires while generating federal revenue from timber and biomass sales.Instruct BLM and USFS to incorporate additional logging into their forest and resource management plans.
This will help prevent major wildfires by reducing fire fuel loads, while generating federal revenue from timber sales and land use fees.Instruct USFS to abolish the "roadless forests" category within the national forest system—which unnecessarily restrict access to denser areas due to lack of permanent roads.
This will open up open access for wildfire prevention efforts in some of the most fire-prone areas.Instruct EPA to exclude emissions from properly-conducted prescribed fires from state compliance with federal air pollution standards.
This will promote the rational use of prescribed fires as a critical wildfire prevention measure and improve the safety of humans and wildlife.Instruct FWS to exclude wildfire prevention measures from review under the Endangered Species Act, as wildfires pose a far greater threat to wildlife than these measures do.
This will enable timely wildfire prevention efforts that increase safety of both humans and wildlife.
Goal 5: Unleash nuclear energy from pseudoscientific restrictions
The strangulation of nuclear has made it 10 times more expensive than it needs to be. Unleashing nuclear, including getting rid of pseudoscientific policies like LNT and ALARA, will make possible a nuclear renaissance.
Objective: Change the NRC's mission from infinite risk reduction to maximum facilitation of safe nuclear energy
NRC's obsession with eliminating any risk is depriving Americans of a nuclear renaissance and therefore safer power. A mission change will point us in the right direction.
Instruct NRC to update its mission statement to fully embrace objective risk-benefit analysis in nuclear safety oversight—rather than minimizing risks at all costs.
This will accelerate safe nuclear energy development in America in alignment with Congress’s original intent.
Objective: Set science-based safety thresholds for radiation
Current allowable radiation levels are set 50x lower than what science shows is safe, based on a false "Linear No Threshold" model of danger. Replacing "LNT" with science-based thresholds is the key to unleashing nuclear.
Instruct NRC to reject the unscientific "Linear No Threshold" (LNT) model that falsely assumes there is no safe dose of radiation—and replace it with a scientific threshold-based model.
This will remove the number one barrier to safe and affordable nuclear energy in America.Instruct NRC to rescind the "As Low As Reasonably Achievable" (ALARA) standard, which effectively criminalizes cheap nuclear by mandating never-ending safety spending.
This will leave free developers free to offer ultra-safe nuclear to Americans at a competitive price.
Objective: Embrace cost-effective approaches to used nuclear fuel
Government pushes costly "permanent" storage of used nuclear fuel even though it can be safely stored in dry casks—or significantly recycled. Embracing local storage and recycling will cut costs and promote safety.
Instruct NRC to establish regulatory pathways for safe nuclear fuel recycling as an alternative to costly "permanent storage."
This will facilitate perfectly safe commercial recycling of used nuclear fuel if and when it becomes cost-effective.Instruct NRC to expand dry-cask storage capacity for used nuclear fuel and establish regulatory pathways for industry ownership.
This will empower industry to safely manage the storage of its own waste products—and do so increasingly cost-effectively.Instruct NRC to release a public statement affirming the safety and reliability of indefinite dry cask storage for used nuclear fuel.
This will help correct the widespread misconception that used nuclear fuel is dangerous and requires storage in costly government-run repositories.
Objective: Promote nuclear R&D using existing DOE resources
Draconian NRC regulations have stalled US nuclear innovation for decades. Using existing DOE resources, such as DOE land devoted to rapid performance-testing of new technologies, can help nuclear make fast progress.
Instruct DOE to formally establish Nuclear Testing Zones on DOE land, including National Laboratory sites, for performance-based testing of advanced nuclear reactor designs.
This will make it far easier for developers to get new safe reactor designs tested and approved.Instruct DOE to prioritize R&D funding for advanced nuclear technologies over solar and wind projects wherever legally permitted.
This will efficiently utilize existing DOE resources to accelerate the development of promising, reliable nuclear energy technologies.Instruct NRC to conduct a formal assessment to explore whether microreactors (≤20 MWe) fall outside NRC’s regulatory purview under the Atomic Energy Act.
This will pave the way for innovation on microreactors without introducing new safety risks.
Objective: Expedite permitting for nuclear plants
Nuclear plants are clean, compact, and have tiny impacts on their surroundings. Delaying them by requiring years of "impact statements" is appalling. Limiting permitting to genuine concerns will save years and billions for every plant.
Instruct NRC to evaluate the permitting process for nuclear power plant and eliminate or streamline reviews that do not empirically demonstrate benefits to human health or wildlife.
This will enable safe, clean nuclear energy to reach the market faster.
Objective: Base nuclear evacuation guidelines on objective cost-benefit analysis
While nuclear accidents have caused no deaths, premature evacuations have been costly and deadly. Basing evacuations on science will reduce costs while increasing public confidence in ultra-safe nuclear.
Instruct NRC to evaluate whether mandatory evacuations during nuclear incidents cause more harm than good, and if so, to stop requiring them.
This will ensure that nuclear safety protocols are not just symbolic measures but actually serve public health interests.
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