President Donald Trump has vowed to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement and set a new path for its energy industry.
As he returned to office yesterday, the president sent shockwaves through the global energy sector by halting funds issued through the Inflation Reduction Act and launching a new age of oil and gas exploration.
President Trump signed a flurry of executive orders on everything from immigration, climate and pardons after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
At the White House, the Republican quickly set about using his new powers to sign off on executive actions, presidential memorandums and executive orders on a host of policy priorities.
Among the first was an order to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, including a letter to the United Nations explaining the decision.
He also announced a "national energy emergency" to reverse many of the Biden-era environmental regulations.
Trump called the Paris agreement a "ripoff" during a speech at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, following his swearing-in.
"We will drill, baby, drill," he said earlier in his inaugural address.
The new president also vowed the US would embark on a new age of oil and gas exploration.
"We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world," he told the audience.
"We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it."
As part of an executive order on energy, Trump halted the so-called green new deal, a series of Biden administration measures that were aimed at boosting green jobs, regulating the fossil fuel industry and limiting pollution.
Trump ordered agencies to halt funds appropriated through two laws, the Inflation Reduction Act and another law on infrastructure and jobs.
He also said the US would end leasing to wind farms and revoke what he has called an electric vehicle "mandate".
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said that America risks missing out on a global clean energy boom that was worth $2trillion last year.
"Embracing it will mean massive profits, millions of manufacturing jobs and clean air," he told the BBC.
"Ignoring it only sends all that vast wealth to competitor economies, while climate disasters like droughts, wildfires and superstorms keep getting worse, destroying property and businesses, hitting nationwide food production, and driving economy-wide price inflation."