This Tuesday, the U.S. president Donal Trump signed an order that will take back any regulation about climate change that was implemented by the Obama administration. This will support the coal industry legally.
Although Trump signed this “Energy Independence” executive order, many people started to speak and act against the action. 23 states, local governments, and environmental groups already counteracted this action and promised to fight in court.
The Obama Administration’s ‘Clean Power Plan’ was aiming to lower the carbon emission from power plants. This was a key factor for the U.S. to keep its promise that it made in the 2015 Paris Agreement. With the Trump Administration lifting the ban against coal leasing on federal lands, the methane and carbon emissions from power plants will increase drastically. At the EPA, Trump said:
“I am taking historic steps to lift restrictions on American energy, to reverse government intrusion and to cancel job-killing regulations.”
This speech was applauded by a room full of miners, coal company executives, and staff from related industry groups. This is all due to profit interests of companies in oil or coal industry. Yet, they seem to ignore the detrimental effects that the current coal industry does to the environment.
This action goes back to one of Trump’s campaign promises. In 2016, he promised that he would revive the drilling and mining industries by loosening up the governmental regulations.
As days will pass by, the effect of this action will be seen on the industry and the climate change in the long run.
[via reuters]
