Trump, in break from other world leaders, digs in on coal
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As Trump declares war on the 'war on coal,' Clinton and Sanders join forces against him
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders clashed many times last year, but they’re united in their opposition to President Trump’s latest executive order rolling back environmental protections.By signing the “Energy Independence” executive order at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) headquarters Wednesday, Trump followed through on a campaign promise to start dismantling the Clean Power Plan — the centerpiece of former President Barack Obama’s climate legacy.The former rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination were outraged that Trump effectively made climate skepticism U.S. national policy and forfeited the country’s role as a world leader in the fight against climate change.“These are more than statistics, they’re American lives at risk because this administration willfully ignores the science,” Clinton tweeted overnight. She also shared sample scripts, prepared by environmentalist group NextGen Climate, for citizens to voice their displeasure with Trump’s climate policy to their respective governors.Sanders, a U.S. senator representing Vermont, took to Twitter to denounce Trump’s order and vowed to challenge it at every step.“Mr. Trump: You are threatening the lives of our children and grandchildren. We will fight you every step of the way,” he said.The Clean Power Plan was central to the Obama administration’s strategy for complying with the groundbreaking Paris Agreement of December 2015, in which 194 nations vowed to reduce carbon emissions to limit the increase in average temperature worldwide to below 2°C.
The largest concentrated source of C02 emissions in the U.S. is power plants. According to the EPA, by 2030 the CPP would have cut carbon pollution from power plants by roughly 30 percent from 2005 levels. In addition, by reducing emissions of particulates and other pollutants, it would have prevented 140,000 to 150,000 childhood asthma attacks and averted 2,700 to 6,600 premature deaths.Sanders also recorded a short video in which he chastises Trump for claiming that Obama “decimated” the coal industry. He pointed out that coal-mining jobs have been declining for decades — since long before Obama took office, reflecting economic factors including falling prices for natural gas.The senator, who has a 91 percent lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters, called for a move toward clean and sustainable energy sources, such as wind, solar and geothermal, rather than a push back toward fossil fuels.“President Trump’s anti-environmental executive orders are a disaster. They are a threat to the future of this country and to the future of the world,” Sanders said. “It is beyond belief that we have the leader of the most powerful country on Earth not believing in science.”Trump presented the controversial executive order as his latest action in a series intended to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Flanked by coal miners and industry executives, Trump criticized what he called “the war on coal,” complete with “job-killing regulations” and “government intrusion.” The speech conformed with Trump’s overall “America First” message.“We will unlock job-producing natural gas, oil, and shale energy,” Trump said. “We will produce American coal to power American industry. We will transport American energy through American pipelines, made with American steel.”Shortly after the executive order was signed, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) released a statement affirming that the scientific evidence climate change is clear: climate change primarily driven by human activities is already happening and affecting people and our environment.Rush Holt, the chief executive officer of the AAAS, emphasized that scientific research helps guide informed responses to climate change by communities, businesses and governmental agencies.“There is much our nation can do to address the risks that climate change poses to human health and safety, but disregarding scientific evidence puts our communities in danger,” Holt said. “We encourage the White House and Congress to support the evidence on climate change, and welcome opportunities to bring scientists to meet with policymakers to discuss the state of the science, the degree of scientific understanding on climate change, and other areas of concern and interest.”Green groups denounce Trump’s ‘all-out assault’ on climate regulations
President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday afternoon, following through on his campaign promise to roll back Obama-era environmental protections intended to combat climate change.The Trump administration’s “Energy Independence” order essentially begins the process of dismantling the Clean Power Plan (CPP), which limits greenhouse gas emissions from coal-burning power plants. It was former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation for restricting the carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.In courting miners on the campaign trail, Trump condemned his predecessor’s environmental policies as an assault on American workers in the coal industry. His rhetoric made no allowances for jobs that might be created in renewable energy. In 2015, Fortune Magazine calculated there were twice as many Americans working in the solar-power industry as coal miners.While introducing Trump at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters, Vice President Mike Pence said, “The war on coal is over. Everyone here knows the truth that affordable, abundant and reliable energy powers the American economy.”Trump celebrated the signing of the executive order as the start of “a new era” in U.S. energy production and job creation.“The action I’m taking today will eliminate federal overreach, restore economic freedom and allow our companies and our workers to thrive, compete and succeed on a level playing field for the first time in a long time, fellas. It’s been a long time. I’m not just talking about eight years. I’m talking about a lot longer than eight years,” Trump said.Earlier Tuesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the executive order directs all agencies to review all regulations, rules, policies and guidance documents that hinder domestic energy production and identify those that are not mandated by law or contributing to the public welfare.“For too long, the federal government has acted as a barrier to energy independence and innovation. By reducing unnecessary regulatory obstacles, we’ll free up American energy companies to responsibly use our vast energy resources,” Spicer said.
In anticipation of the executive order, Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council(NRDC), said Tuesday morning that she will not surrender “our children’s future” to profits for the coal and natural gas industry without a fight.“This is an all-out assault on the protections we need to avert climate catastrophe. It’s a senseless betrayal of our national interests. And it’s a shortsighted attempt to undermine American clean energy leadership,” Suh said in a statement.“Trump is sacrificing our future for fossil fuel profits — and leaving our kids to pay the price. This would do lasting damage to our environment and public lands, threaten our homes and health, hurt our pocketbooks and slow the clean energy progress that has already generated millions of good-paying jobs.”The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) president Gene Karpinski also weighed in:“Rolling back these public health protections shows Trump cares more about big polluters than the well-being of our communities. There is no excuse for unsafe drinking water, dirty air, more asthma attacks in kids, and increased extreme weather events that destroy homes and livelihoods,” he said. “Donald Trump may care more about corporate interests, but the people of this country care about a safe, clean and healthy environment, and they will not let him get away with destroying it.”Former Vice President and climate champion Al Gore released a statement saying the “discouraging” executive order is a misguided step away from a sustainable carbon-free future.“It is essential, not only to our planet, but also to our economic future, that the United States continues to serve as a global leader in solving the climate crisis by transitioning to clean energy, a transition that will continue to gain speed due to the increasing competitiveness of solar and wind,” Gore said.
Environmental groups vowing to fight Trump climate actions
View photosCHICAGO (AP) — Environmental groups that have hired extra lawyers in recent months are prepared to go to court to fight a sweeping executive order from President Donald Trump that eliminates many restrictions on fossil fuel production and would roll back his predecessor's plans to curb global warming. But they said they'll take their first battle to the court of public opinion.Advocates said they plan to work together to mobilize a public backlash against an executive order signed by Trump on Tuesday that includes initiating a review of former President Barack Obama's signature plan to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants and lifting a 14-month-old moratorium on new coal leases on federal lands. Trump, who has called global warming a "hoax" invented by the Chinese, said during his campaign that he would kill Obama's climate plans and bring back coal jobs.Even so, "this is not what most people elected Trump to do," said David Goldston, director of government affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, who said Trump's actions are short-sighted and won't bring back the jobs he promised. "Poll after poll shows that the public supports climate action."A poll released in September found 71 percent of Americans want the U.S. government to do something about global warming, including 6 percent who think the government should act even though they are not sure that climate change is happening. That poll, which also found most Americans are willing to pay a little more each month to fight global warming, was conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.The White House and Department of Justice declined to comment.While Republicans have blamed Obama-era environmental regulations for the loss of coal jobs, federal data show that U.S. mines have been losing jobs for decades under presidents from both parties because of automation and competition from natural gas and because solar panels and wind turbines can produce emissions-free electricity cheaper than burning coal.But many people in coal country are counting on the jobs that Trump has promised, and industry advocates praised his orders."These executive actions are a welcome departure from the previous administration's strategy of making energy more expensive through costly, job-killing regulations that choked our economy," said U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas J. Donohue.The order also will scrap language on the "social cost" of greenhouse gases, and will initiate a review of efforts to reduce the emission of methane in oil and natural gas production as well as a Bureau of Land Management hydraulic fracturing rule, to determine whether those reflect the president's policy priorities.It also will rescind Obama-era executive orders and memoranda, including one that addressed climate change and national security and one that sought to prepare the country for the impacts of climate change. The administration is still in discussion about whether it intends to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change.Environmentalists say clean energy would create thousands of new jobs and fear that Trump's actions will put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage to other countries that are embracing it.But they believe efforts to revive coal ultimately will fail because many states and industries already have been embracing renewable energy or switching to natural gas."Those decisions are being made at the state level and plant by plant," said Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen, who said his group is "continuing to work aggressively to retire dirty coal plants."Coal is not coming back," Van Noppen added. "While the president is taking big splashy action, he is actually doomed to fail."A coalition of 16 states and the District of Columbia said they will oppose any effort by the Trump administration to withdraw the Clean Power Plan or seek dismissal of a pending legal case before a federal appeals court in Washington.Environmental advocates also are ready to go to court on a moment's notice, including to defend environmental laws if the U.S. government does not, and will watch the administration's actions closely, said the NRDC's Goldston.Vatican slams Trump on climate change
The Vatican has urged US President Donald Trump to listen to "dissenting voices" and reconsider his position on climate change, saying the United States risked being supplanted by China as leader in environmental protection.Pope Francis has made defence of the environment a key plank of his papacy, strongly backing scientific opinion that global warming is caused mostly by human activity."This is a challenge for us," said Cardinal Peter Turkson, the pope's point man for the environmental, immigration and development."Fortunately, in the United States, there are dissenting voices, people who are against Trump's positions."This, for us, is a sign that little by little, other positions and political voices will emerge and so we hope that Trump himself will reconsider some of his decisions."The pope and the Vatican, which has diplomatic relations with more than 180 countries and a permanent observer status at the United Nations, have strongly backed the international Paris Agreement in 2015 to curb world temperatures."We as a Church, are full of hope that (Trump's positions) will change," Turkson said.After Trump signed his executive order on Tuesday, keeping a campaign promise to bolster the US coal industry, nations led by China and the European Union rallied to support the Paris accord, which Trump has threatened to abandon.China, which had fought attempts by foreign governments to limit carbon emissions in the past, has become a strong proponent of efforts to halt global warming."While Trump is moving in the opposite direction, there is another great power in the world, China, which is showing different signs, as if America is creating a vacuum that China is filling," Turkson said.
