WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday assembled members of his Cabinet to plot out ways to reduce energy costs — one day after the Environmental Protection Agency took a sledgehammer to Biden-era regulations designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Trump convened EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for the discussion, which was not on his public schedule.
Trump has vowed repeatedly to lower the cost of fuel for transportation, electricity and heating — arguing that doing so in turn would reduce overall consumer costs that soared by 22% under former President Joe Biden.
In a hint of one likely matter discussed, Trump told reporters afterward that his immediate plans include pressuring New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul at a Friday-morning meeting to support a natural gas pipeline extension that would bring fuel from Pennsylvania to the Empire State and New England.
Trump said he hoped to get Hochul on board so he wouldn’t have to use the “extraordinary powers of the federal government” to get it done — arguing that the New York pipeline extension could save households more than $2,500 annually.
The president also celebrated crude oil prices dipping to levels rarely seen under Biden during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, which was attended by some of the Cabinet secretaries convened to discuss next steps.
“That’s phenomenal news and hat’s what brought [prices] up… they took our beautiful energy policies and they just messed them up,” Trump said.
“They lost that bronco, as the expression goes.”
Zeldin, a former Long Island Republican congressman, took aim at dozens of Biden’s policies Wednesday — hailing 31 actions as the biggest day of deregulation in US history.
In one of his biggest moves, Zeldin started the process of repealing vehicle emissions standards that would have forced manufacturers to sharply reduce the average greenhouse-gas output of cars, trucks and tractors.
The rules that are being repealed would have forced with carmakers forced to drop average emissions of light vehicles by 50% by model year 2032. Truck and tractor-makers were required to cut average emissions by 25% to 60%, depending on weight.
Other Biden-era rules that Zeldin is taking aim at would have limited methane emissions from oil and gas wells and required power plants to capture 90% of carbon dioxide emissions from coal and natural gas by 2032.
Also in the process of termination are rules would have limited the use of hydrofluorocarbons by refrigeration, HVAC and semiconductor manufacturers and required emissions reporting by 8,000 fuel suppliers.
“The American people elected President Trump with a mandate last November to unleash American Energy and lower the cost of living for hardworking Americans,” Zeldin told The Post after the White House meeting.
“Under the President’s leadership, EPA is proud to do its part to usher in this Golden Age of American Success. These 31 actions will help make life in America more affordable again, and jobs more abundant, while Powering the Great American Comeback.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told The Post that Trump “had a productive meeting with his advisors in the Oval Office, where they discussed the administration’s actions to lower costs and unleash American energy across the country.”
In his final stretch in office, Biden banned drilling for oil and natural gas off most of America’s coastline and throttled natural gas exports — after previously scrapping new pipeline construction and imposing a moratorium on new drilling permits on federal land.
Trump has either reversed or is in the process of reversing a wide range of Biden-era policies intended to counter global warming.
