Trump poised to scrap Obama climate policies

Washington DC, Tuesday

US President Donald Trump will today roll back a slew of environmental protections enacted by Barack Obama, in a bid to untether the fossil fuel industry.

In a maiden trip to the Environmental Protection Agency, Trump will sign an “Energy Independence Executive Order,” a White House official told AFP. The new president will unveil a series of measures to review regulation curbing oil, gas and coal production and limiting carbon emissions.

The centerpiece of Trump’s plan is an effort to slow walk Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which restricts emissions from coal-fired power plants. The measures will “help keep energy and electricity affordable, reliable, and clean in order to boost economic growth and job creation,” the White House said. But the new president could face a cool reception at the agency’s imposing Washington headquarters.

Trump has repeatedly questioned humans’ role in warming the planet, leaving environmentally-focused EPA staff to wonder whether the fox is guarding the hen house.

Trump has done little to assuage those fears, vowing to slash EPA funding by a third, appointing anti-climate litigator Scott Pruitt as head of the EPA and Exxon’s CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.

But Trump’s climate skepticism has struck a chord with many Republican voters. Some 68 per cent of Americans believe climate change is caused by humans, but just 40 percent of Republicans say they worry about it according to Gallup.

During the 2016 election campaign Trump donned a hardha t and embraced miners from Kentucky to West Virginia, promising to return jobs to long-ravaged communities. — AFP

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