Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave $64 million to environmental group Sierra Club Wednesday to fight coal plants in the wake of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Tuesday decision to repeal the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of former President Barack Obama’s climate change agenda.
“Pollution from coal-fired power plants is the largest source of carbon emissions and kills 7,500 Americans annually, down from 13,000 when the Beyond Coal campaign began expanding in 2011 through support from Bloomberg,” Bloomberg Philanthropies said.
The Beyond Coal campaign seeks to state and local permits for coal plants and prides itself on helping to close 50 percent of the U.S. coal plant fleet. Bloomberg’s steady funding of the campaign is credited for the success of the program, according to the former Democratic billionaire’s philanthropic arm.
“The new round of funding aims to maintain progress in the face of proposed federal rollbacks of public health and environmental regulations, including the Clean Power Plan, which would have set carbon pollution standards for power plants,” the statement from Bloomberg added.
The Clean Power Plan directs states to cut a third of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming. Many scientists blame the burning of fossil fuels such as coal for causing the Earth’s average temperature to rise, resulting in more severe weather, flooding and drought.
The EPA’s proposed repeal calls the Clean Power Plan an illegal overreach of federal authority under the Clean Air Act, saying the plan’s health benefits were miscalculated and its effect on global warming overblown. The plan will be open for public comment for 60 days once it is published in the Federal Register. Environmental groups and Democratic attorneys general supporting the climate plan are threatening to sue once the proposal is effective.
