On his first day back in the White House in January, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency and set out to reshape the nation’s energy landscape by gutting federal support for renewables and propping up what he deemed acceptable sources of power. And yet, as clean energy advocates braced for the worst, there were reasons to hope that at least one renewable resource might be spared.

In his January 20 declaration, Trump committed to championing fossil fuels, nuclear, hydropower and, perhaps surprisingly, geothermal heat. The new secretary of energy, Chris Wright — a former oilman from Colorado who previously led a drilling company that invested in a geothermal startup — has since supportedthe need to expand development of geothermal to meet the demands of A.I. computing. Then, in early June, the Senate called on the Interior Department and the U.S. Forest Service to sell off public land in 11 Western states for uses including geothermal leasing.

Read more in Yale Environment 360 here.

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