People’s Action on Monday condemned the announcement by Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt that his agency will move to repeal the Clean Power Plan.
The landmark regulation would have reduced carbon emissions from power plants by an estimated 35 percent and reflected the United States’ commitment to reduce global warming under the Paris climate accords. People’s Action and its grassroots member organizations have been fighting for strong implementation of the regulations since they were issued in 2015.
“It is unfathomable that the Trump administration is turning a blind eye to the realities of climate change, even as millions of Americans have been affected by climate-accelerated storms in the past month,” says Jordan Estevao, senior strategist at People’s Action Institute and leader of the organization’s climate justice program.
“The Trump administration has once again signaled its willingness to watch the planet burn, starting with the communities of color and working-class people who are hit with the effects of pollution and climate change first and worst,” Estevao said.
The repeal of the Clean Power Plan will also cost workers jobs; 260,000 people are employed in the solar industry compared to only 54,000 in coal mining, which has seen a wave of bankruptcies in recent years. “This move by the Trump administration is completely out of touch with economic as well as environmental reality,” Estevao said.
Pruitt’s announcement launches a process of public comment, and People’s Action will continue to fiercely defend the Clean Power Plan, holding national and state elected officials responsible for meeting its goals.