Energy

Report: Trump Is Gutting The Clean Power Plan, Turning Authority Over To States

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A leaked draft of the Trump administration’s plan to roll back an Obama-era landmark emissions regulation would ease national emissions standards and turn over regulatory authority to the states, Politico reports.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to release an official proposal to rewrite the Clean Power Plan in a matter of days, according to Politico.

The regulation was touted by former-President Barack Obama for forcing lower emissions and combating climate change, Politico reports. Critics called the plan a cornerstone in Obama’s “war on coal.”

President Donald Trump promised to repeal the regulation that was disproportionately affecting coal plants in favor of lower-emission forms of energy such as natural gas, solar and wind. Former-EPA Administrator announced plans to fulfill the promise on Oct. 9, 2017.

The leaked proposal would allow states to craft their own emissions regulations for power plants or forego instating their own limits entirely.

The draft is “another, more official, sign that the government of the United States is not committed to climate policy,” former-EPA air chief Janet McCabe, who played an active role in creating and implementing the Clean Air Act, told Politico. “[The proposal offers] a significant amount of discretion to states to decide that nothing at all needs to be done.”

The Clean Power Plan, issued in 2015, went into limbo in 2016 and was never put into full affect. The Supreme Court issued a stay against implementing the regulation after a broad coalition of states, businesses and unions petitioned the court.

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