Trump ditches Obama’s signature climate policy aimed at cutting coal emissions

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

Amy Sisk / StateImpact Pennsylvania

The Bruce Mansfield Power Plant burns coal to generate electricity in Beaver County.

June 19, 2019 | 5:09 PM

Updated: 2019-06-20 08:59:22

The Trump Administration has rolled back one of President Obama’s signature climate policies designed to cut coal plant emissions.

The new rule is aimed at helping struggling coal power plants remain open, and is expected to hamper efforts to cut carbon emissions.

Obama’s Clean Power Plan set national standards and would have cut carbon emissions 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the finalized CPP replacement rule to a room full of coal miners. Wheeler said the new regulation, known as the Affordable Clean Energy rule, lets the states decide their own emissions standards.

“That means cleaner and more affordable energy for the American public,” he said.

Pennsylvania is the third-largest coal producing state in the country. But coal generated electricity plants have struggled to compete with cheaper natural gas and renewable energy.

Clean Air Council executive director Joe Minott says the move will slow progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“And also more particulate pollutants and sulfur dioxide and pollutants that will have an immediate effect on people’s health,” Minott said.

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Wolf is asking lawmakers to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a collaborative cap-and-trade effort among New England and Mid-Atlantic states that puts a price on carbon emissions.

Coal advocates praised the new rule. Rachel Gleason, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, said states can “develop common-sense solutions” to address energy needs and reduce emissions.

“Pennsylvania’s industries, businesses and consumers rely on the affordable and dependable electricity that is powered by Pennsylvania’s coal reserves and produced by Pennsylvania’s miners,” Gleason said. “The ACE rule will allow the Commonwealth to customize its approach to reducing emissions while reducing the economic hardships that would have resulted from a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach called for in the Clean Power Plan.”

The Affordable Clean Energy rule is expected to face court challenges.