Rebecca Kling, 202-495-3059, rebecca.kling@sierraclub.org
MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- In the midst of intense public pressure for action on the climate crisis, Donald Trump and his EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler nevertheless moved backward today by finalizing the Trump Administration's plan to roll back the Clean Power Plan, the first-ever safeguards to curb carbon pollution from existing power plants. Wheeler’s alternative—the Dirty Power Plan—is an illegal and deadly rollback that is nothing more than a giveaway to the coal industry; EPA itself previously admitted this type of policy change could result in up to 1,400 deaths every year due to increased air pollution.
In response, Jessica Tritsch, Senior Campaign Representative of the Beyond Coal Campaign, issued the following statement:
Wheeler’s rollback not only attempts to block the benefits of the Clean Power Plan, but reveals the Trump administration’s heartless indifference to the millions of people across the United States whose lives and health will be put in danger from increased pollution.
Over the past year, we’ve seen unprecedented calls from the people of Minnesota for elected officials to take on the climate crisis, but the Dirty Power Plan goes in the opposite direction. Minnesotans understand the value of clean water, clean air, and the beauty of nature—we do not want to see even more carbon pollution pumped into the air, fuelling natural disasters that endanger our communities, homes, schools, businesses, and even our very lives.
Minnesota also knows that the transition away from dirty to 100% clean energy is happening whether Donald Trump likes it or not. Already, the clean energy economy has created tens of thousands of jobs in Minnesota, with more to come. By trying to prop up the coal industry, this scheme will cost working families money that could be spent on education, groceries, or their mortgage, but it will instead go to the very coal plants causing the persistent pollution in their communities.
The public is demanding a coherent national plan to address the climate crisis and the Trump Administration is failing miserably to give it to us. Even with Minnesota’s strong clean energy commitments, the Dirty Power Plan cannot be allowed to go into effect. Sierra Club will fight his horrible plan in courts, in the streets, and in the hearing rooms, until we are heard and aggressive climate action is secured.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.