Trump Attack on Clean Power Plan Threatens Thousands of Lives

Washington, D.C.  - Donald Trump and his EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, announced today that they will repeal the Clean Power Plan, harming the health of American families and communities. The Plan aimed to curb dangerous, climate-changing carbon pollution that is exacerbating extreme weather events, as well as reduce other harmful pollutants that contribute to dangerous smog and soot, causing heart attacks, respiratory illnesses, and even premature deaths.

Recently Maryland, with eight other Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, proposed strengthened limits to the amount of carbon pollution power plants are allowed to emit each year through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI is a proven program that shows states can act on climate in the face of federal rollbacks and go beyond the goals of the original Clean Power Plan.

In response, David Smedick, Maryland Policy and Legislative Representative at the Sierra Club said:

“By gutting the Clean Power Plan, the Trump Administration is throwing out an affordable, flexible life-saving plan to cut carbon pollution and promising to replace it with a Dirty Power Plan, which will let the fossil fuel industry to continue polluting our air and climate while our families pay the price.

While the federal government seems to be controlled by corporate polluters, Maryland has taken a leadership position in reducing climate change-causing pollution from power plants. The new RGGI plan announced earlier this year will result in an additional 30 percent carbon reductions from power plants between 2020 and 2030, protecting the health of our residents and curbing the disastrous effects of climate change. However, we’re not done. We need to deploy more clean energy faster and make it more accessible to all communities in Maryland by accelerating and innovating our climate and energy policies. Maryland needs to prepare our communities and workforce to safely and justly transition off of fossil fuels like coal in the coming years. And we desperately need to turn our attention to reducing climate pollution from the transportation sector, by working with neighboring states to create new programs that limit tailpipe emissions and invest in community-based clean transportation solutions for all.”

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Additional information about the Clean Power Plan (CPP):

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) previously projected that the Clean Power Plan would prevent 90,000 childhood asthma attacks, 300,000 missed work and school days, and 3,600 premature deaths annually by 2030.
• The Plan would result in annual climate benefits of $20 billion and annual health benefits of between $14 and $34 billion. It would also reduce the average consumer’s electricity bill by $85 per year and save consumers a total of $155 billion over the course of the next decade.