In spite of a recent wave of climate change reports, all of which paint a dire picture, Trump plans to loosen up restrictions on the coal industry. One of the latest reports was released just days ago by the U.S. government, warning that greenhouse gases need to be reduced so that the effects of global warming can be lessened.
Of that report, Trump said “I don’t believe it.” This certainly seems to be the case, as the EPA will soon lift some restrictions on coal, CNN reports.
Another recent report on climate change says that the world will create an all-time high of carbon emissions in 2018. U.S. emissions have risen steadily the past two years under Donald Trump as President, as previously reported by Inquisitr.
The restriction limited the construction of new coal plants. Andrew Wheeler, acting administrator of the EPA, made a statement about lifting these regulations this week. He said this move will be “leveling the playing field.”
Wheeler is a former coal industry lobbyist.
The Congress-mandated Climate Assessment that came out after Thanksgiving was full of warnings, and stressed that the Earth is quickly reaching a point of no return. If the things that cause climate change aren’t stopped right now, soon there will be no way to reverse the effects — which will be fatal, according to multiple reports. Many people will be displaced by shrinking coastlines, and food shortages will occur.
Meanwhile, the UN is hosting a meeting about climate change in Poland. Delegates are working on a plan for the Paris Agreement. They’re going to work out the details in order to make the Agreement a reality. Every country in the world except the United States has signed the Paris Agreement.
The regulation required coal-fired power plants to use technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions, according to NPR. With this regulation lifted, however, it isn’t likely that coal plants will sprout up all over the country. Coal use is down nationwide, and coal usage in 2018 is on track to be at its lowest point since 1979.
Now, coal plants will be able to produce even more CO2 every minute.
“Today’s proposal is nothing more than another thoughtless attempt by the Trump Administration to prop up their backwards and false narrative about reviving coal at the expense of science, public safety, and reality,” said the senior director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, Mary Anne Hill.
Don’t count the coal industry out yet. “It does appear that this proposal would make it feasible for new coal plants to be a viable option in the future in the United States,” said Michelle Bloodworth, the CEO and President of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
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