President Donald Trump moved aggressively to undo his predecessor’s carbon-cutting commitments, promising “a new energy revolution” that would unleash America’s abundant energy riches.
Flanked by coal miners, Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that begins unravelling a raft of rules and directives to combat climate change, which President Barack Obama wove into the fabric of the federal government as he made addressing the issue a centrepiece of his second term.
“My administration is putting an end to the war on coal,” Trump said, highlighting the coming roll back of Obama’s Clean Power Plan, a rule that discouraged utilities from using the fossil fuel to generate electricity. “Perhaps no single regulation threatens our miners, energy workers and companies more than this crushing attack on American industry.“
Trump, who once called climate change a hoax, has vowed to reorient the federal government so that US oil and coal producers thrive, while manufacturers aren’t burdened by “job-killing” restrictions -- a commitment he reiterated Tuesday at the Environmental Protection Agency. The US is “ending the theft of American prosperity,” he said.
He stopped short of withdrawing the US from the landmark Paris accord on climate change negotiated by his predecessor. Aides say that is still being discussed, even as the steps he took would make it hard for the nation to keep its commitment.
Some changes will happen immediately, such as the repeal of a 2016 policy that encouraged federal regulators to consider climate change in environmental reviews as well as directives from Obama that compelled government agencies and the military to factor the phenomenon into their planning. The Interior Department also will swiftly rescind a moratorium on the sale of new rights to extract coal on federal land.