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The recent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration mark a significant shift in U.S. trade policy that is expected to have a wide-ranging impact across multiple sectors, including in the energy sector.

On April 8, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach” (the “Executive Order”), which directs the United States Attorney General to identify and halt the enforcement of state laws and civil actions that burden energy production and may be preempted by Federal law or are otherwise unconstitutional.

Despite the Biden administration’s public support for carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”), we saw neither faster CCS permit approvals from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) nor a significant push towards state primary enforcement authority (“primacy”) during the former president’s tenure.

On November 7, Vinson & Elkins hosted an Energy Transition and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Conference in its New York office.

Much has been written about the benefits of tax credit transfers following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), but questions remain as to how to actually effectuate a transfer.

On May 29, 2024, the Treasury Department (the “Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) issued proposed regulations (REG-119283-23) (the “proposed regulations”) regarding the clean electricity production tax credit and the clean electricity investment tax credit provided by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”)¹ and available under new sections 45Y and 48E, respectively, of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

Vinson & Elkins was delighted to host its First Annual Energy Transition and Inflation Reduction Act Conference.

On April 25, 2024, the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) issued final regulations (T.D. 9993) (the “Final Transfer Regulations”) regarding the transfer election for certain tax credits by eligible taxpayers available under section 6418 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

On March 5, 2024, the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) issued final regulations (the “Final Direct Pay Regulations”) regarding the direct pay election for certain tax credits available under section 6417 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

On December 28, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) granted Louisiana primary enforcement authority (“primacy”) under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act’s (“SDWA”) Underground Injection Control (“UIC”) program to permit Class VI wells, which became effective on February 5, 2024.

The California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) reviews the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (“LCFS”) program every five years as part of the broader scoping plan required under the California Global Warming Solutions Act.

The 28^th Conference of the Parties (or “COP28”) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”) at Expo City in Dubai has ended with an agreement described by COP28 president Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber as “historic” and hailed by UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell as “the beginning of the end” for fossil fuels.