President Trump officially rolled back Obama’s Clean Power Plan, signing a document called the “Energy Independence” executive order, says The New York Times.
Even though many economists have said that the rise in demand for natural gas — and not climate change regulations — are to blame for a depressed coal market, Trump promised his order would put the miners back to work.
“We’re ending the theft of American prosperity and reviving our beloved economy,” Mr. Trump said. “The miners told me about the attacks on their jobs. I made them this promise. We will put our miners back to work.”
The new executive order doesn’t lay out whether the U.S. will cancel its role in the 2015 Paris Agreement, signed by nearly 200 countries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. “But experts note that if the Trump program is enacted, it will all but ensure that the United States cannot meet its global warming commitments under the accord,” says the Times.
Under Obama’s Clean Power Plan, the U.S. would have shut down hundreds of aging, high-emitting coal plants, replacing them with wind, solar and other renewable energies. While, Trump’s order will keep those plants in operation at least for a few years, experts say it will take years for the Clean Power Plan to be completely dismantled. The plan has been held up in court and had yet to be implemented.