Was the Clean Power Plan Just Wiped Out?
The Clean Power Plan (CPP) was the subject of a Trump executive action seeking to entirely eliminate the CPP, and the CPP's mandates for the reduction of GHGs, and other pollution asociated with fossil fuels. The CPP sought to clean up the energy generation sector in the United States through renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates. Without a doubt, this act by the current White House administration is a major attack on American’s clean air and water that we, in a first-world nation, have become accustomed to. The Trump administration is full of climate change deniers, who won’t even acknowledge that 9 of the last 10 years have been the hottest years in history.
In addition to the Clean Power Plan, the Trump administration and Republican House have been busy dismantling EPA environmental regulations that protect air and water from polluting industries. However, there are a few caveats to these actions that deserve a closer look.
That executive order regarding the Clean Power Plan can't take effect immediately anyway. The subjects of Trump’s executive actions regarding the Clean Power Plan and other regulations that protect the environment are mostly regulations that must be litigated before any repeal can take place. When, and if, they do take effect, polluters can freely pollute or, rather, they could, if the CPP and other environmental regulations were actually repealed.
However, even the environmental regulations that are repealed are going to produce lawsuits, so either way, there's litigation. In the case of polluters freely polluting, in addition to the litigation, there’s also the cost of cleaning up the pollution, and the cost to human, and wildlife, health and well-being.
Coal-based energy production is the #1 cause of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as causing deaths among coal miners. There have been 76,000 coal miner deaths due to black lung disease alone, since 1968. It would be difficult to state an advantage dirty coal has over clean energy because there isn’t one.
Renewable energy is also much more cost effective than coal, in addition to being cleaner. Jobs are trending towards the renewable industry, and away from the fossil fuel industry. Renewables, such as solar and wind, are also getting cheaper than coal and has been getting cheaper for years. (nrdc-clean-energy-affordable-way-power-us/)
Please see this article on Green City Times about the rise in renewable energy jobs vs. stagnant job growth in the coal industry in the United States.
Also see these articles for information about the Clean Power Plan, environmental regulations that are on the chopping block and the fight to protect the environment:
Washington Post
theconversation.com/why-states-are-pushing-ahead-with-clean-energy-despite-trumps-embrace-of-coal
theconversation.com/why-states-are-pushing-ahead-with-clean-energy-despite-trumps-embrace-of-coal
