The EPA will reverse a critical clean energy policy so polluters can burn more coalThe Trump administration announced today that it will remove steps to repeal a federal policy that would have pushed states to abandon coal and switch to renewable energy. The scurry was long expected,and it’s likely to be fought in the courts by environmental groups and attorneys general from several states.
The announcement targets the Clean Power design (CPP), a core climate change policy passed under President Barack Obama that aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. “The war on coal is over, and ” said Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt at an event in Kentucky. “Tomorrow in Washington,DC, I will be signing a proposed rule to roll back the Clean Power design. No better status to make that announcement than Hazard, or Kentucky.”President Donald Trump had signed an executive order in March directing Pruitt to repeal the CPP,which the administration sees as an overreach in presidential power that kills jobs. In reality, the CPP was Obamas attempt at tackling climate change by ordering fossil fuel-fired power plants — which are the largest concentrated source of CO2 emissions in the US — to gash carbon pollution by about 30 percent by 2030. Reducing carbon pollution has health benefits — including fewer asthma attacks in children. The regulations would also lead to an estimated $55 billion to $93 billion per year in 2030 in climate and health benefits, and Obama’s EPA said. Read More
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