Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Federal Court Strikes Down Major Trump Climate Rollback
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
January 19, 2021

Share

WASHINGTON — In a last-minute slap at President Donald Trump, a federal appeals court struck down one of his administration’s most momentous climate rollbacks on Tuesday, saying officials acted illegally in issuing a new rule that eased federal regulation of air pollution from power plants.

The Trump administration rule was based on a “mistaken reading of the Clean Air Act,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled, adding that the Environmental Protection Agency “fundamentally has misconceived the law.” The decision is likely to give the incoming Biden administration a freer hand to regulate emissions from power plants, one of the major sources of climate-damaging fossil fuel emissions.

EPA spokeswoman Molly Block called the agency’s handling of the rule change “well-supported.” The court decision “risks injecting more uncertainty at a time when the nation needs regulatory stability,” she said.

Environmental groups celebrated the ruling by a three-member panel of the Court of Appeals.

“Today’s decision is the perfect Inauguration Day present for America,” said Ben Levitan, a lawyer for the Environmental Defense Fund, one of the groups that had challenged the Trump rule in court.

The ruling “confirms that the Trump administration’s dubious attempt to get rid of common-sense limits on climate pollution from power plants was illegal,” Levitan said. “Now we can turn to the critically important work of protecting Americans from climate change and creating new clean energy jobs.”

A coalition of environmental groups, some state governments and others had challenged the Trump administration’s so-called Affordable Clean Energy, or ACE, rule for the power sector. The rule, which was made final in 2019, replaced the Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration’s signature program to address climate change.

The court decision came on the last full day in office for the Trump administration. Under Trump, the EPA rolled back dozens of public health and environmental protections as the administration sought to cut regulation overall, calling much of it unnecessary and a burden to business.

Trump, who campaigned in 2016 on a pledge to bring back the struggling coal industry, repealed the Obama administration’s plan to reduce emissions from coal-fired plants that power the nation’s electric grid. The Clean Power Plan was one of President Barack Obama’s legacy efforts to slow climate change.

Market Forces Have Continued the U.S. Coal Industry’s Yearslong Decline

The Trump administration substituted the Affordable Clean Energy plan, which left most of the decision-making on regulating power plant emissions to states. Opponents said the rule imposed no meaningful limits on carbon pollution and would have increased pollution at nearly 20% of the nation’s coal-fired power plants.

Market forces have continued the U.S. coal industry’s yearslong decline, however, despite those and other moves by Trump on the industry’s behalf.

Andrea McGimsey, senior director for Environment America’s “global warming solutions” campaign, said Trump’s “Dirty Power Plan” was “clearly a disastrous and misconceived regulation from the start. As the Trump administration leaves office, we hope this ruling will be reflective of a much brighter future” for renewable energy such as solar and wind power.

Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., chairwoman of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, called the ruling a timely rejection of Trump’s effort to roll back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan.

“It looks like we’re kicking off a new era of clean energy progress a day early,” Castor said. “It’s almost poetic to see our courts vacate this short-sighted and harmful policy on Trump’s last full day in office.”

DON'T MISS

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

DON'T MISS

Police Had About 90 Seconds to Stop Traffic Before Baltimore Bridge Fell. 6 Workers Are Feared Dead

DON'T MISS

NBC Has Cut Ties With Former RNC Head Ronna McDaniel After Employee Objections, Some on the Air

DON'T MISS

Chinese Leader Xi Issues a Positive Message to US Business Leaders as Ties Improve

DON'T MISS

Cargo Ship Lost Power, Issued Mayday Before Hitting Baltimore’s Bridge

DON'T MISS

Trump’s Social Media Company Soars Nearly 50% in Its First Day of Trading on Nasdaq

DON'T MISS

Supreme Court Appears Likely to Preserve Access to Abortion Medication Mifepristone

DON'T MISS

Court Agrees to Pause Trump’s Civil Fraud Judgment if He Puts up $175M

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Nab Suspect in March 14 Slaying on Bulldog Lane

DON'T MISS

This Kitty Checks All the Boxes: ‘Happy, Playful, Loves to Eat’

No data was found

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

12 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

13 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

13 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

13 hours ago

Bredefeld, Smittcamp Debate the Salary of Valley Children’s CEO

13 hours ago

CA’s Liberal Government Has a Long History of Caving to Special Interests

13 hours ago

Corrupt Process? Bullard, Edison Parents Blast Handling of Superintendent Search

14 hours ago

Police Had About 90 Seconds to Stop Traffic Before Baltimore Bridge Fell. 6 Workers Are Feared Dead

15 hours ago

NBC Has Cut Ties With Former RNC Head Ronna McDaniel After Employee Objections, Some on the Air

15 hours ago

Here Are Some Numbers That Will Help You Get Your March Madness Fix for the Sweet 16

15 hours ago

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine has sunk or disabled a third of all Russian warships in the Black Sea in just over two years of war, the navy spokes...

6 hours ago

6 hours ago

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

Composite image of President Trump and Devin Nunes
10 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: How Going to Work for Trump Turned Devin Nunes Into a Millionaire

11 hours ago

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

12 hours ago

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

13 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

13 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

13 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

13 hours ago

Bredefeld, Smittcamp Debate the Salary of Valley Children’s CEO

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend