States

With a “gargantuan” increase in oil and natural gas output from the Lower 48, the United States may be only months away from full energy independence, according to new research.

The United States established a new production record for natural gas and petroleum last year, simultaneously extending a decade-old lead on Russian gas production volumes and surpassing Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest producer of petroleum, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

A coalition of 22 states and seven local governments, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, has filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Affordable Clean Energy rule (ACE), which shifted to states much of the responsibility for regulating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants, potentially opening a door to the increased burning of coal.

Elected officials from coastal states took disparate views over the Trump administration’s proposal to open more than 90% of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to oil and natural gas exploration, which garnered more than 630,000 public comments.

States, mayors, conservation groups and billionaire Michael Bloomberg on Thursday wasted no time in announcing they would continue pouring energy and money toward combating climate change following President Trump’s decision to pull out of the voluntary Paris climate change accord signed at the end of 2015.

President Trump was not moved by pressure from the largest oil and natural gas producers in the United States, announcing Thursday the country would pull out of the global climate agreement negotiated by close to 200 countries in late 2015.

One day after President Trump sent a $4.1 trillion budget proposal to Congress, opposition to all or parts of the budget plan was beginning to form among elected officials both in Washington and in several energy producing states.

U.S. oil and natural gas operators secured deals over the weekend with Saudi Arabia that are expected to create billions in revenue as President Trump completed the first leg of a nine-day marathon trip to the Middle East and Europe.

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday calling for sweeping changes in the energy sector, including an immediate reevaluation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) and lifting restrictions on oil, gas and coal production.