Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order unwinding Obama’s policies aimed at tackling climate change. The order will dismantle the Clean Power Plan and lift the ban on federal leasing for coal production, along with a number of other elements that together attempt to reset or extinguish the whole global warming debate.
Mr Trump said: “My administration is putting an end to the war on coal. We’re going to have clean coal — really clean coal. With today’s executive action, I am taking historic steps to lift the restrictions on American energy, to reverse government intrusion and to cancel job-killing regulations.”
“One after another, we’re keeping our promises and putting power back into the hands of the people. First, today’s energy independence action calls for an immediate re-evaluation of the so-called Clean Power Plan. Perhaps no single regulation threatens our miners, energy workers and companies more than this crushing attack on American industry.”
The final version of the Clean Power Plan set a national limit on carbon dioxide emitted from power plants, and the Trump Administration claims it could cost up to £39 billion a year and increase electricity prices in 41 states by at least 10% - figures that many dispute.
While some businesses voiced support for the move, many did not, including the big Tech firms. Scientists and environmental campaigners have condemned the order, claiming it will hinder the world’s efforts to meet the climate targets set in the Paris Agreement. The governors of the US’ west coast states have issued a statement in support of the Clean Power Plan and pledged to retain their climate policies regardless of any Presidential order.
Trump’s actions won’t immediately invalidate Obama’s climate rules, but they will direct federal agencies to rewrite them. That gives his opponents the chance to influence the process, or at least lay the foundation for legal challenges.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already issued an order informing power plants that they no longer need to report CO2 emissions’ data. Trump’s first budget in early March proposed cutting funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by 31%, and he has already introduced a reforms unwinding other environmental regulations.