Trump to sign executive order to kill US Clean Power Plan

• 7 years ago (2017-03-27)
• David Flin

Climate change 20 Emissions 60

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Scott Pruitt, the newly appointed Administrator to the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has said that President Trump will sign an executive order to begin to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, the first step in removing former President Obama’s climate change policy. The plan, which would limit carbon emissions from power plants, was stayed by the US Supreme Court, and has not gone into full effect.

Trump and Pruitt claim that formally eliminating the plan will return certainty to the energy marketplace, will drive down prices, and create jobs.

Pruitt said that the executive order targeting the Clean Power Plan will be signed on 28 March, 2017. The executive order is the first step in a complex process. The EPA still has to hold public meetings, accept public comments, consult with stakeholders, and possibly face numerous lawsuits in its efforts to eliminate the Clean Power Plan altogether. It is expected that the process of removing the Clean Power Plan in full will take at least one year.

Pruitt said that the Paris accord on climate change was a “bad deal”, claiming that China and India do not have to “take steps to address the issue internationally.” He has also said that he does not believe that CO2 is a significant contributor to global warming.