The US EPA has released its Trump energy plan to rollback pollution controls for power plants according to a New York Times report. The plan’s accompanying analysis also shows it will lead to increased pollution-related deaths.
President Donald Trump’s Affordable Clean Energy rule is the proposed replacement for Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which was never implemented.
The Obama plan set emissions reduction targets and encouraged utility companies to use clean energy such as wind and solar power. The new plan, however, would allow for relaxation of pollution rules for older coal power plants. In addition, it would only call for minor efficiency improvements to plants.
Trump’s America: EPA proposal increases pollution
The United States’ Environment Protection Agency (EPA) issued the proposal, even though its own technical analysis clearly states it would increase pollution.
Not only that, the fine print admits the level of emissions under the plan would have adverse effects on human health. The plan’s technical analysis says it will lead to:
- 48,000 new cases of asthma;
- 21,000 new cases of missed school days annually; and
- Up to 1,400 premature deaths by 2030.
All these outcomes would be due to increased levels of harmful pollutants in the atmosphere.
Trump administration says new plan is more flexible
The Trump administration claims the Obama plan attempted to illegally force power companies to use cleaner energy sources. It says the new plan would act legally and provide more flexibility to the states.
This includes suggesting ways that individual states might regulate power plants. The EPA also claims that it has “legal authority” to deal with pollutants directly.
Trump energy plan: ‘Bad news for everyone who breathes’
Conrad Schneider, advocacy director of the Clean Air Task Force, said the plan shows the Trump administration “cares more about extending the lives of coal plants than the American people”.
Meanwhile the National Resource Council of Maine described the plan as “bad news for everyone who breathes”. The organisation’s clean energy director Dylan Voorhees said it would be particularly bad for people living in Maine because the state gets pollution from upwind power plants.
Voorhees is calling on Maine’s congressional delegation to “speak up loudly against the proposal”.
The proposed plan comes on top of Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and to put tariffs on solar panels imported from overseas.
Despite these decisions however, many Americans are still choosing rooftop solar installations to save money on their energy bills.
