E.P.A. Announces Repeal of Major Obama-Era Carbon Emissions Rule
The Trump administration will file a proposal in the Federal Register to repeal the Clean Power Plan, arguing
that the Obama administration exceeded its legal authority in an effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
Under the Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration set targets by assuming utilities could improve the efficiency
of their coal plants, shift from coal to cleaner natural gas and add more renewable energy to their grids.
At an event in eastern Kentucky, Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said
that his predecessors had departed from regulatory norms in crafting the Clean Power Plan, which was finalized in 2015 and would have pushed states to move away from coal in favor of sources of electricity that produce fewer carbon emissions.
“So for certain states,” Mr. Larsen wrote, “today’s announcement is a big deal.”
Experts also note that the Clean Power Plan would have prevented a rebound in coal use in case natural
gas unexpectedly became more expensive or various policies to promote renewable energy were blunted.
In announcing the repeal, Mr. Pruitt made many of the same arguments
that he had made for years to Congress and in lawsuits: that the Obama administration exceeded its legal authority in an effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
Industry groups cheered the announcement, but have also indicated
that they would prefer that Mr. Pruitt replace the Clean Power Plan with a new, more modest regulation on power plants in order to blunt any court challenges.