With an energy executive order, Trump could solve ‘affordability’ once and for all
September 29, 2026
By Gary Abernathy
With Congress preparing for recess and exhibiting little interest in meaningfully securing America’s energy future, it’s more urgent than ever for President Trump to sign an executive order implementing the core principles of the Affordable, Reliable, Clean Energy Security act, allowing its effectiveness to be demonstrated to the degree that lawmakers will seem foolish not to codify ARC-ES into law.
With “affordability” dominating public discourse, ARC-ES, when put into practice, would prove to be the most effective guarantee of affordability for all Americans – not just for energy, but for nearly all goods and services.
How? First, it would make “affordable” a prerequisite for U.S. energy policy. Producing electricity at the lowest possible cost would be a key outcome of enacting ARC-ES, since the policy demands that energy choices be made for electricity generation based on kilowatt-hour comparisons. The obvious question is, which sources produce electricity at the lowest cost?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that natural gas accounted for about 41% of utility-grade electricity generation in 2025. Overall, fossil fuels supplied 58% of electricity generation. Why? Because such fuels are the most available, reliable, effective and affordable choices. While progressive politicians and special interest groups push subsidies for “alternatives” and spend years warning of dire climate consequences that seldom come to pass, ARC-ES would remove hysterics from the equation and enshrine the promise of affordable energy into the fabric of the nation.
Everyone knows that the U.S. is entering a technological age that will require substantially more electricity than at any time in history. The most disastrous path to follow would be to sideline our most reliable resources in favor of replacing them with “renewables” that are light years away from being able to carry the necessary load. Reliability is crucial, and ARC-ES ensures that dependable resources like gas and nuclear will remain indispensable parts of the energy mix.
Crucially, an executive order enacting the core elements of ARC-ES would send a message to investors that they can depend on traditional energy remaining part of our nation’s long-term strategy. “Production follows investment” is a basic economic tenet. Investors are naturally reluctant to get behind products or innovations that seem constantly in flux thanks to the whims of fickle politicians.
Recent investments in natural gas, for instance, have proven beneficial to consumers. EIA reports that lower prices in the summer of 2025 “were driven by record high production.” Clearly, investor confidence in traditional energy sources rose when President Trump returned to office. An executive order putting ARC-ES into action would start a chain reaction: More investor confidence will lead to more production, followed by greater supply, and resulting in lower prices for consumers.
ARC-ES is designed to enhance not only America’s energy security, but national security in general. As described in this space before, the U.S. has become a major exporter of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), meaning that we not only supply our own primary source for electricity generation, but much of the world has come to rely on us too. Our country’s abundant energy serves two important national security purposes – it reduces our reliance on other countries while simultaneously giving us considerable international leverage as a leading supplier around the globe.
To be clear, ARC-ES would not end “renewables” like wind and solar as energy choices. It merely institutes a common-sense approach and requires every energy option to justify its value by the following criteria: Is it affordable? Is it reliable? Is it clean by statutory definition? Is it abundant?
But isn’t an executive order subject to reversal by a future progressive president who wants to take us back to the days of climate hysteria? Technically, yes. But success itself would make it extremely difficult to justify abandoning a policy that demonstrably lowers the cost of energy and other crucial commodities, and upon which households and businesses had come to trust and rely.
Finally, preserving and expanding America’s middle class is historically one of the most important objectives of U.S. fiscal policy. Such a goal is crucial to long-term economic success and social stability. The American Dream has long centered on the concept of improving one’s lot through hard work, entrepreneurship and opportunity. The principles of ARC-ES, when put into action, can significantly determine how much income typical middle-class families have left at their disposal for food, housing, transportation, savings and their general quality of life.
An executive order implementing the core principles of ARC-ES would be one of the greatest gifts to families and businesses in the history of democratic capitalism. It would take common-sense energy policies off the bench and put them into action on the free market playing field, allowing them to demonstrate their value across all walks of life.
There’s no time to waste, especially with socialism perniciously slinking into U.S. politics and government. The very success of the policies would soon convince freedom-loving lawmakers to codify ARC-ES into law, guaranteeing low-cost energy, abundant electricity and economic security – while eliminating “affordability” as a concern for Americans for generations to come.
Gary Abernathy is a longtime newspaper editor, reporter and columnist. He was a contributing columnist for the Washington Post from 2017-2023 and a frequent guest analyst across numerous media platforms. He is a contributing opinion columnist for The Empowerment Alliance, which advocates for realistic approaches to energy consumption and environmental conservation.