President Donald Trump’s latest executive order rolls back important U.S. climate change regulations. The order recommends that federal agencies review existing energy policies and “suspend, revise, or rescind” those deemed burdensome to the energy industry.
Over half a dozen measures from the Obama administration designed to fight climate change are now under review or revoked altogether. Among the most significant losses:
- Executive Order 13653 – a 2013 order entitled ”Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change”
- The President’s Climate Action Plan – a long-term plan to reduce carbon dioxide levels, encourage use of renewable fuels, and preserve forests
- A 2015 memorandum on increasing private investment in the restoration of natural resources
Also on the chopping block is the Clean Power Plan, a policy limiting greenhouse gases.
Adding insult to injury, Trump signed the order at the headquarters of the EPA, the federal agency tasked with ensuring the energy industry complies with regulations.
The president reserved special praise for the coal mining industry. Trump campaigned heavily on a pledge to increase American coal production, and has already rolled back regulations that forbade coal companies from dumping ash and waste into local water supplies. Miners and industry executives stood together at the signing ceremony. Trump reiterated his support for them, saying:
“My administration is putting an end to the war on coal. I am taking an historic step to lift the restrictions on American energy, to reverse government intrusion and to cancel job-killing regulations.”
But despite the insistence of the fossil fuel industry and its many Republican mouthpieces in Congress, environmental regulations don’t kill jobs. While some jobs might be lost, regulation inspires creativity that leads to new industries – and new jobs – that can provide the technology necessary for regulatory compliance. Overall, job tallies stay relatively stable even after the implementation of environmental regulations.
The real reason coal has been an economic loser for so long isn’t excessive regulations. It’s that coal just can’t compete. Even as the U.S. slouches backward toward a dirty-energy economy, other countries are transitioning toward solar, wind, and hydroelectric sources because they’re sustainable – and getting cheaper every year. And in the U.S. and Europe, it’s natural gas, not coal, that has emerged as the preferred fossil fuel for commercial energy production.
These market forces have caused the coal mining industry to wither and the renewable energy market to flourish. According to the Solar Foundation, there are 260,077 workers employed in the solar industry, up from 93,000 in 2010. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently declared “wind turbine service technician” the fastest-growing job in the country. But the coal industry provides only about 50,000 jobs, down from three times that number 30 years ago.
Even if none of that were true, it’s hard to understand why Trump insists on resurrecting coal. Sure, he doesn’t believe in climate change, but he certainly knows that coal causes pollution. And miners are well-paid, but they’re also exposed to dangerous and unhealthy conditions. In other words, coal mining is not the sort of work a modern, globalized nation like the U.S. should be encouraging.
Both former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) – rivals in last year’s contentious Democratic primary – spoke out against Trump’s evisceration of climate regulations.
These are more than statistics, they’re American lives at risk because this administration willfully ignores the science. https://t.co/gacdRsTcQp
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 29, 2017
Mr. Trump: You are threatening the lives of our children and grandchildren. We will fight you every step of the way. pic.twitter.com/xrSsag1c9K
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 28, 2017
Environmental groups, too, have blasted Trump’s executive order.
David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council vowed to fight Trump’s order in court, saying:
“I think it is a climate destruction plan in place of a climate action plan.”
And Trip Van Noppen, the president of Earthjustice, said:
“This order ignores the law and scientific reality.”
Featured image via YouTube video.
