Energy + Environment
How would Project 2025’s energy implications manifest in Virginia?

By: Charlie Paullin - November 18, 2024 5:27 am

Now that President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans have gained control of the Oval Office and both chambers of Congress, the conservative playbook called Project 2025 may be closer to becoming a reality. It includes a chapter whose author has ties to Virginia’s energy laws and regulation creation process, and that calls for major overhauls to the U.S. Department of Energy, including repealing clean energy funding sources, increasing oil and gas production and streamlining the nuclear approval process.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, put together Project 2025 in anticipation of a Trump presidency that will begin Jan. 20, 2025. The energy chapter was written by Richmond-based McGuireWoods lobbyist Bernard McNamee, who did not return requests for comment on this article.

Trump denied connections to Project 2025 on the campaign trail. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance’s transition team, told The Mercury Nov. 14 “no policy should be deemed official unless it comes directly from President Trump.” On Friday, Trump announced North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum would not only be Secretary of the Interior, but also chairman of a “newly formed” National Energy Council that will “oversee a path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE.”

Here, we provide an overview of the energy and environmental implications of Project 2025, should it come to pass.

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