The Trump administration will reverse an Obama-era coal emissions rule as part of its effort to loosen restrictions on the coal industry, just days after a US government report warned that aggressive action is needed to curb greenhouse gases and ease the impact of global warming.
The rule change would lift restrictions on coal emissions that effectively limited the construction of new plants.
Wheeler argued that the Obama administration was requiring power plants to use costly carbon capture and sequestration technology and that by reversing the rule, businesses would have a greater ability to innovate and invest.
“Their determination was disingenuous,” Wheeler said. “They knew that the technology was not adequately demonstrated, which is what is required under the law.”
Critics assailed the move. “Trump’s proposal is an act of flailing, die-hard climate denial,” said Clare Lakewood, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity who characterized the announcement as “backward-looking posturing.”
Climate report
On the Friday after Thanksgiving, the Trump administration released a congressionally mandated Climate Assessment which warned the planet is getting warmer, human activity is contributing to that warming and that it is approaching a point of no return in terms of the damage to the climate.
