One of the most underreported and overlooked achievements of President Trump’s first term is that the United States became a net oil exporter for the first time in 75 years in 2018.

During his first four years in the Oval Office, Trump launched an ambitious plan to foster what he called American “energy dominance.” Without question, this was a successful endeavor.

By 2020, the United States was the world’s leading producer of oil and natural gas; for the first time in 68 years, the United States became a net energy exporter; and crude oil production increased by nearly 40 percent since 2016, setting new records in 2019 and 2020.

This greatly benefited all Americans, especially those in the working-class, as energy prices decreased, and the cost of gasoline plummeted. Never forget, energy prices have a profound effect on the economy at large simply because energy is used in virtually all economic activities. This also helped keep inflation low throughout Trump’s first term.

Generally, this energy renaissance was fueled by the Trump administration’s “deregulation campaign” that “eliminated unnecessarily burdensome rules that stifled domestic energy production” coupled with a posture that embraced U.S. fossil fuels.

Additionally, from the get-go, Trump widely incorporated climate realism while undoing decades of climate alarmist policies via executive orders and agency actions. A great example of this was Trump’s early decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, which my colleague, Sterling Burnett, described as “nothing more than an attempt by the global elites to control free economic choices by directing energy usage.”

Burnett is spot on. By eschewing global agreements like the Paris Accords, Trump made it clear that the United States would not kowtow to the global elites using climate change to enact their new world order.

Unfortunately, President Biden reversed most of these policies during his one term. This resulted in surging energy prices. According to a 2024 Heartland Institute report, “Since Biden entered the Oval Office, the average American household has directly paid at least $2,548 in higher direct energy costs.”

Making matters worse, Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was actually the Green New Deal Lite, added hundreds of billions in subsides for green energy boondoggles.

The Biden administration’s rush to build vast fields of windmills and solar panels also reaped irrevocable environmental degradation. As anyone with an IQ of more than 50 probably realizes, these “green” monstrosities destroy ecosystems, wreak havoc on wildlife, and necessitate the clear-cutting of huge tracts of land. They also require thousands of miles of transmission lines to deliver the power to faraway customers.

It also must be noted that these so-called green energy sources require rare earth elements from places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, which uses child labor to mine cobalt.

By hindering U.S. production of fossil fuels and turbocharging the green transition with hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, the Biden administration also empowered chief U.S. adversaries like Iran, China, and Russia.

The components and manufacturing process of the primary instruments to fuel the green transition are controlled by China. Essentially, the green transition is an economic boon for China. Biden’s decision to pause U.S. exports of liquified natural gas to appease his climate activist base also resulted in more market share for Russia, thus funding Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Fortunately, the four-year nightmare that was the Biden presidency is long over.

Since his return to the White House, Trump is doubling down on American energy dominance. From Energy Secretary Chris Wright to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the administration is moving swiftly to codify as much as possible into law under the reconciliation bill. Meanwhile, the billions of dollars of waste in the Inflation Reduction Act could be clawed back. And it seems like some of the most onerous rules, like the EPA’s Endangerment Finding, could be eliminated or at least curtailed.

If these things come to fruition, the United States could become the world’s undisputed energy superpower.

We could use this leverage for good as we enter the age of AI and quantum computing, which will require affordable, reliable, and abundant energy.

Or we could abstain from fossil fuels, enrich our adversaries, perpetuate slave- and child-labor, destroy vast pristine lands, endanger whales and birds, and pay much more for unreliable energy while hoping there is enough grid power to charge your electric vehicle and keep the lights on.

Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.

Image: RawPixel.com