Trump to kill Obama climate change policies

US President Donald Trump is due to sign an executive order to overturn key parts of the Obama administration's plan to tackle global warming. The move will undo the Clean Power Plan which required states to slash carbon emissions. The executive order also cuts the Environmental Protection Agency's budget. Regulations on oil, gas and coal production are to be reviewed. Trump has promised to remove green rules which he says hurt the economy.

The new order

The new order would mean that older coal plants that had been marked for closings would probably stay open. That would extend the market demand for coal for up to a decade. But the mines that are staying open are using more mechanization.

So even if there is an increase in coal production, there could be a decrease in coal jobs.

Analysis

The new measures would help keep energy and electricity affordable, reliable and clean in order to boost economic growth and job creation. United States largely relies on domestic sources for the coal and natural gas that fires most of the nation’s power plants.

Coals are not imported. So, in terms of the Clean Power Plan, this has nothing to do with the energy independence. But environmental groups warn that they will have serious consequences at home and abroad.

The problem with coal jobs has not been CO2 regulations, so this will probably not bring back coal jobs. The problem has been that there has not been market demand for coal. These actions are vital to the American coal industry, to our survival, and to getting some of our coal families back to work

Assessment

Trump’s order signals that the United States might not meet its pledges to cut its emissions about 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Meeting the U.S. terms of the Paris Agreement would require full enforcement of the current regulations, plus additional regulations. It is critical that, every country especially the world’s largest emitters, adhere to the Paris commitment if we have to make any significant reduction in global carbon emission.