J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE / AP PHOTO/POOL
President Donald Trump is joined by the Congressional leadership and his family before formally signing his cabinet nominations into law, in the President’s Room of the Senate, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. From left are Vice President Mike Pence, the president’s wife Melania Trump, their son Barron Trump, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Susan Phillips and Jon Hurdle for StateImpact:
It didn’t take long for President Donald Trump to deliver on his energy campaign promises. Within minutes of being sworn in Friday, links to Obama’s Climate Action Plan were replaced by a smiling picture of the new president and vice president. The White House website then published “An America First Energy Plan,” which emphasizes use of domestic fossil fuels and shunning foreign oil. The plan takes aim at “burdensome regulations on our energy industry,” while embracing “the shale oil and gas revolution.”
“President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. Lifting these restrictions will greatly help American workers, increasing wages by more than $30 billion over the next 7 years.”
Obama’s Climate Action Plan included the Clean Power Plan, the requirement that states reduce carbon emissions from power plants. The Waters of the U.S. rule outlined clarity on the smaller waterways that would be regulated under the Clean Water Act. That rule has been tied up in the courts. Response from environmentalists was quick. The climate action group 350.org said it would do everything to resist the plan.
“Trump’s energy plan is par for the course of the President’s climate denial, but it’s nonetheless alarming for the movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground,” said 350.org executive director May Boeve in a statement. “Fulfilling this plan would not only set back years of progress we’ve made towards protecting the climate, but would undoubtedly worsen the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, from rising sea levels to extreme weather.”
A spokesman for Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said the state is still reviewing the impact on state residents.
“At this point, the administration, including DEP and DCNR, is closely tracking the flurry of policy changes expected in Washington,” wrote Wolf spokesman J.J. Abbott in an email. “Our focus is on evaluating the impact on Pennsylvania’s residents and communities, and examining how to most effectively respond if Pennsylvanians and their communities will be harmed. As this is all just happening, we are still in the review process.”
Pennsylvania’s Clean Power Plan had been on hold while the new regulations were being challenged in court by a number of states.
Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State University, and a frequent commentator on climate issues, said the Trump statement seems to confirm the new President’s campaign promises to pull out of the Paris climate accord.
“Trump has now clearly telegraphed, with his public comments, and his disastrous nominees for key posts, his total disdain for efforts to avert catastrophic climate change,” Mann wrote in an email. ”We are now, under Trump, a rogue nation.”
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