Trump rolls back climate change rule that restricted new
coal plants
EPA says change to require efficiency efforts instead of
carbon capture will encourage ‘clean coal’ in the US and worldwide
Emily Holden in Washington
Thu 6 Dec 2018 19.49 GMT Last modified on Thu 6 Dec 2018
21.29 GMT
The Trump administration is rolling back a climate change
regulation that restricted new coal plants.
The change is mostly symbolic – but nevertheless sends a
strong signal. Companies in the US are not building plants that burn coal
because burning natural gas is cheaper and creates less pollution. Renewable
power has also eaten into coal’s market share.
But the Obama-era rule for new coal plants has long been a
target of the industry. It would have effectively required technology to
capture the carbon dioxide that traps heat on earth and causes climate change.
That technology is not in use on a commercial scale. A draft replacement rule
would allow new coal plants that meet certain efficiency requirements.
The acting Environmental Protection Agency administrator,
Andrew Wheeler, said the Obama administration was “disingenuous” when it
decided coal-plant carbon capture technologies were adequately demonstrated. He
said the change to require efficiency efforts instead of carbon capture will
encourage “clean coal” in the US and worldwide through technology exports.
“You will see a decrease in emissions worldwide because of
an increase in investments in new energy technologies,” Wheeler argued.
The EPA’s own economic analysis contradicts him. It
concludes that the rollback will not do anything to boost coal power in the US
because any new fossil fuel plants will burn natural gas, not coal.
Wheeler argued affordable energy benefits low-income people
most and invited the National Black Chamber of Commerce to speak as a supporter.
Experts say, however, that coal plants are shutting down because they aren’t as
affordable as other options.
Michelle Bloodworth, CEO of the coal industry group the
American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, said ahead of the event that
“there is no silver bullet when it comes to developing new coal units in
today’s marketplace but in announcing this proposal the EPA has outlined a
regulation that both follows the law and allows new more efficient coal plants
to be a viable option in the future.”
Nixing the rule could invigorate coal backers worldwide,
sending a message to negotiators of an international climate pact in Poland
that the US is trying to bolster the future of the fossil fuel. Trump, who has
questioned manmade climate change, has said he will exit that pact, the Paris
agreement.
David Doniger, a climate director at the Natural Resources
Defense Council, said the move “will be judged harshly by future generations”.
“The science is clear: operating large fossil fuel plants
without carbon capture and storage is a disaster for the climate. What we need
instead is swift and decisive action to curb dangerous climate change,” Doniger
said.
Fifteen health and medical groups, including the American
Lung Association, opposed the EPA announcement.
Across the federal government, Trump agencies have sought to
slash rules for fossil fuel production and use. The environmental protection
agency is also rescinding an Obama rule that aimed to shift the US away from
coal use and toward more natural gas and renewable power. And the agency is
expected to roll back a standard requiring coal plants to limit their toxic
mercury pollution. Many plants shut down in 2015, in part so that they wouldn’t
have to spend money to comply with that rule.
This year, coal use in the US is expected to be at its
lowest point since 1979, according to the energy information administration.
Coal consumption has fallen 44% since its peak in 2007, the agency said.
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