Opposition to President Barack Obama’s overreaching policies on energy and the environment was one of the main reasons why Americans sent Donald Trump to the White House. As a candidate, President Trump saw strong support from Rust Belt states and the upper-midwest because these parts of the country were devastated by Obama’s regulatory agenda, and they stood to lose even more if Hillary Clinton were elected president.
The cornerstone of Obama’s domestic regulatory agenda was a rule requiring states to drastically cut their carbon emissions: the so-called Clean Power Plan. This was an attempt to work around Congress and deliver cap-and-trade — to make energy prices “necessarily skyrocket” — whether the public wanted it or not.
Trump was vocal during the campaign about dismantling the CPP. The executive order he signed Tuesday delivers on this promise.
If implemented, the CPP would have had a huge impact on states by forcing them to cut an average of 32 percent of their carbon emissions by 2030. States would have had to essentially reorganize their electricity grid; they would have to shut down conventional power plants that in many cases have already been paid off and to build costly renewable sources including wind and solar. Families and businesses across the country would have faced double-digit increases in electricity costs and job losses to build these expensive, unnecessary power plants.
Given its significant impact, it’s no wonder that the rule saw overwhelming opposition in the states. State legislators and governors passed legislation and signed orders to slow or block implementing the rule in their states. State attorneys general brought lawsuits challenging the legality of the rule, led by Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma before he took the helm of the EPA. In a rare move, the U.S. Supreme Court even issued a stay on the rule because of its extraordinary impacts and Congress passed legislation that would have overturned the rule if Obama hadn’t promptly vetoed it.
Today’s executive order from the Trump administration includes additional constructive energy reforms beyond reining in the CPP — it lifts the existing restrictions on domestic coal and onshore oil, gas production, and it also eliminates the “social cost of carbon” regulations.
This action comes on the heels of several other executive actions on energy and the environment.
Previously, Trump signed an executive order directing the EPA to re-write the Waters of the United States rule under the Clean Water Act, as well as an executive order requiring a “one in, two out” policy for any agency issuing regulations. He proposed cutting EPA programs harmful to energy production and economy activity in the budget blueprint he recently issued. And late last week, Trump approved the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which the Obama administration held up for years for political reasons.
While there’s much more work left to do in reining in all the overreaching Obama-era rules, the Trump administration’s early actions are certainly positive steps.
Christine Harbin (@ChrissyHarbin) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is vice president of external affairs for Americans for Prosperity.
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