Donald Trump’s recurring slogan of “drill, baby, drill” advocates for increased oil and gas extraction within the United States, yet the president aims for a more expansive objective: maintaining global dependence on climate-altering fossil fuels for as long as possible.
In negotiations with nations like Japan and Ukraine, Trump is leveraging US tariffs and military support to enhance the global distribution of oil and gas. In Africa, his administration has even promoted the revival of coal, the least environmentally friendly fossil fuel, as a source of energy for the continent.
“We’ve had years of western countries shamelessly saying: ‘Don’t develop coal, coal is bad,’” stated Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, last week. He described such a stance as “paternalistic” and ultimately detrimental for Africa. “That’s just nonsense, 100% nonsense,” Wright insisted. “Coal has transformed our world and improved it.”
Wright further emphasized his views on Monday at the CeraWeek oil industry conference in Houston, Texas, asserting that the world requires more fossil fuels rather than less. He criticized Joe Biden for his “irrational, quasi-religious policies on climate change” and declared that “there is no physical way” for renewable sources like solar and wind to replace fossil fuels – a perspective that contradicts widely held expert opinions.
This vision of a long-term reliance on fossil fuels could lead to increased US support for drilling in Africa, pleasing business sectors that argue oil and gas are essential for providing electricity to the 600 million people on the continent who currently lack it.
“With President Trump’s easing of restrictions, there will be new opportunities for US investors to engage with Africa’s oil and gas sector,” said Robert Stryk, chair of Stryk Global Diplomacy, a consultancy aiding the African Energy Chamber in facilitating US-backed oil and gas initiatives on the continent. “It has the potential to unlock substantial benefits for African nations. Secretary Wright made a compelling statement. It was a smart move.”
Sections of pipes awaiting installation as part of the east African crude oil pipeline, in Kikuube, Uganda, on 24 October 2023. Photograph: Luke Dray/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesStryk critiqued western nations for demanding that Africa abandon fossil fuels when they built their economies on coal, oil, and gas. “Let Africa choose its own destiny,” he stated. “People talk about renewables, but it rings hollow. It merely keeps people in poverty.”
Scientists have warned that the climate crisis, fueled by fossil fuel combustion, presents devastating risks globally, particularly in poorer African nations that have contributed a minor share of planet-warming emissions. Africa is warming at a faster rate than the global average and is already experiencing increased floods, heatwaves, and droughts, with disasters there causing GDP losses of up to 5% in some countries.
“One of the consequences of American fossil fuel consumption has been the disruption of our previously stable climate, condemning some of Africa’s most vulnerable populations to endure extreme weather, loss of homes, and livelihoods,” remarked Mohamed Adow, founder and director of Power Shift Africa.
“It reflects profound ignorance that the US energy secretary is advocating for coal, but it’s also blatant lobbying on behalf of American fossil fuel companies that support Republican politicians.”
Adow pointed out that Africa does need support from wealthier nations like the US to develop renewable energy infrastructures. However, affluent nations have consistently fallen short in providing necessary funding, and Trump has exacerbated this issue by cutting programs aimed at assisting the transition of developing areas to clean energy, halting American assistance to nations vulnerable to extreme weather, and pulling the US from the Paris climate agreement.
“Thus, they lack moral authority to dictate Africa’s developmental strategies,” Adow remarked. “African leaders must determine a course that secures energy access and the economic wellbeing of their populations. Compounding the climate crisis that their people are already facing would be detrimental and undermine recent developmental progress.”
While the global landscape is slowly shifting towards cleaner energy, Trump has sought to perpetuate fossil fuel reliance. The president removed a moratorium on US gas exports instituted during Biden’s administration, and Japan and South Korea have expressed interest in initiating an Alaska gas project, partly to circumvent potential tariffs from Trump.
“Japan will soon commence importing historic new shipments of clean American liquefied natural gas (LNG) in unprecedented quantities,” Trump announced last month. “It’ll be record numbers.”
A liquefied natural gas export facility in Port Sulphur, Louisiana, on 6 March 2025. Photograph: Kathleen Flynn/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesRecently, Shigeru Ishiba, the Japanese prime minister, met with Trump at the White House and confirmed plans for Japan to increase its LNG imports from Freeport, Texas. Manning Rollerson, an environmental justice activist from Freeport, voiced concerns that US LNG exports negatively impact communities like his.
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“People are being poisoned,” Rollerson declared at a protest outside CeraWeek on Monday. “We have babies being born sick, and our economy is suffering.”
In 2022, a significant explosion and fire at the Freeport LNG natural gas export terminal led to a temporary shutdown and released pollutants into the atmosphere. Rollerson highlighted this incident as a demonstration of the risks associated with the fuel.
Prior to the meeting between Ishiba and Trump, Rollerson traveled to Japan to urge officials against making a “deal with the devil.”
“I invited the Japanese government to visit Freeport and witness what 57 years of industrial expansion has done to this city,” he recounted. “It’s not a pretty sight.”
Simultaneously, an agreement under negotiation with Ukraine would grant the US access to the nation’s mineral resources, which include oil and gas as well as materials like graphite, vital for batteries. This deal could potentially reverse a suspension Trump placed on US military aid to Ukraine, which has been engaged in a conflict against an invading Russian force since 2022.
Despite ongoing Russian attacks, Ukraine has been striving to enhance its clean energy framework. However, this new deal could “reverse these progressions, possibly driving our nation back into fossil fuel dependence and external energy control – a devastating regression for a country that has sacrificed so much for its sovereignty,” explained Svitlana Romanko, a Ukrainian environmental attorney and executive director of Razom We Stand.
“Trump’s exploitative mineral deal would render Ukraine a subservient state and hasten the climate crisis while doing nothing to uphold our sovereignty,” Romanko added. “The only beneficiaries of this proposal will be the shareholders of American corporations and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”
Countries and corporations will continue to recognize the inherent threats posed by the climate crisis, yet Trump’s reductions in renewable energy support domestically, coupled with cuts to USAID and other international initiatives, will impede efforts to lower emissions, according to Jonathan Elkind, a global energy expert at Columbia University.
“The current Trump administration is unequivocally signaling that they have no qualms about fossil fuels remaining a defining part of the energy landscape indefinitely,” Elkind stated.
“People across the globe need viable climate solutions, not just those in impoverished economies but also in the United States. However, it is evident that Donald Trump has no intentions of addressing this pressing issue during his administration.”
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