CEI Praises Trump Executive Order on Climate and Energy Policy

Myron Ebell, director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment, responded to President Trump’s Executive Order on climate and energy policy.

“President Trump’s Executive Order on withdrawing much of President Obama’s climate and energy-rationing agenda is welcome news for the American people.  In particular, we applaud his action to begin withdrawing the EPA’s greenhouse gas rules, including the so-called ‘Clean Power’ Plan.  These rules, which are clearly illegal, would raise electric rates for consumers significantly and do immense economic damage to the heartland states where U. S. manufacturing is now concentrated. 

“Also important are the President’s actions on the Social Cost of Carbon and the NEPA climate impacts guidance documents.  If left in place, these two guidance documents would be used to justify ever-more destructive energy regulations and to stop public infrastructure and private natural resource projects across the country.       

“Today’s Executive Order is a positive step toward scrapping President Obama’s climate regime, but there is still work to be done.  The two most important decisions yet to be announced are to withdraw from the Paris Climate Treaty and to re-open the EPA’s Endangerment Finding.  It is important to understand that all these policies are closely connected and that striking down most but not all of them will not be sufficient to undo the damage done by President Obama’s energy-rationing policies.  Environmental pressure groups are already planning to file suit in federal court using the Paris Climate Treaty and the Endangerment Finding to block the withdrawal of the EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions rules for new and existing power plants.”        

About the “Clean Power” Plan:

The EPA’s so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP) is former President Obama’s marquee climate change initiative. Finalized by the administration on August 3, 2015, the Clean Power Plan would expand the Environmental Protection Agency’s power beyond the Clean Air Act, allowing the agency unprecedented authority to centrally plan the electric system as a whole: generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption. This regulation will have a devastating effect on America’s electricity industry, consumers, and the U.S. economy.

CEI’s work against the “Clean Power” Plan:

• The Competitive Enterprise Institute sued the Obama EPA over the CPP saying the plan, “goes beyond the EPA’s legal authority and would significantly raise the cost of electricity for many Americans.”
• See more from CEI on the Clean Power Plan here.​
• See more from CEI on the social cost of carbon here and here.