Trump, however, believes it to be a “historic step” that not only does good for energy production but also facilitates new jobs.
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Among the initiatives now dismantled is the Clean Power Plan, which obligated states to reduce carbon emissions, to meet USA commitments under the Paris accord.
The plan would have reduced emissions from existing power plants by 32% below 2005 levels by 2030.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed overnight an order to dismantle Obama-era climate change regulations.
Trump says his directive is an assault on what he calls burdensome energy regulations and policies, most of which are fossil fuel related.
Thomas Stocker, a climate scientist at the University of Bern, Switzerland, said Trump’s plan to halt decommissioning of old and polluting coal-fired power stations would hurt the United States in the long run. For Trump to undo those regulations, though, he would have submit new ones for public review and comment, and, in the face of promised legal actions by backers of the Obama regulations, prove to the courts that the rollbacks are in the nation’s best interest and are not arbitrary.
Obama announced the first-ever rules for USA power plant emissions ahead of worldwide climate talks in Paris and drew immediate opposition from the power industry and Republicans. And Trump’s attempt to reverse the “war on coal” will not just contribute to climate change but could harm those growth industries and the jobs they create.
Trump recalled conversations with coal miners in West Virginia during his campaign and their love of the work.
Environmental activists, including former Vice President Al Gore, decried Trump’s executive order and other groups are vowing to combat the agenda.
Several of the country’s largest pension funds, accounting for tens of billions in investment, have already begun divesting money from oil and gas companies in order to ensure a more profitable future for their investors. But the plan wasn’t fully implemented: states including Florida sued and the plan was tied up in court.
It also remains unclear if the United States will be able to meet its commitments under a climate change accord reached by almost 200 countries in Paris in 2015.
And “even if the Trump administration wants to pretend for the time being that climate change is not a big deal, people all over the world think it is a really big deal”, said Todd Stern, who led U.S. climate negotiators from 2009-2016.
Industry groups however welcomed the move for lifting burdensome regulations.
“Gutting the Clean Power Plan is a colossal mistake and defies science itself”.
Bernie Sanders has claimed that an oil company “understands more about climate change” than Donald Trump, after ExxonMobil urged the government not to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord.
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Unlike some in the U.S., Chinese leaders have consistently said that climate change is a serious problem and acknowledged that changing the energy mix to move away from fossil-fuel sources is important.
