Kristiana Faddoul, kristiana.faddoul@sierraclub.org, (602) 475-8459
LOS ANGELES - In the midst of intense public pressure for action on the climate crisis, Donald Trump and his EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler moved backward today by finalizing the Trump Administration's plan to roll back the Clean Power Plan - the first-ever safeguard from carbon pollution for 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. The EPA itself previously admitted policy change could result in up to 1,400 pollution related deaths every year from increased air pollution.
The Clean Power Plan has been widely hailed as a milestone policy that would directly tackle the climate crisis head on, encourage the rapid growth of clean energy jobs, and save tens of thousands of people from pollution related deaths. All told, the EPA estimated that the Clean Power Plan would have provided up to $45 billion in climate and public health benefits a year, even after taking into account compliance costs. The Dirty Power Plan, on the other hand, is an economic loser. The EPA previously admitted that even under Trump’s dream scenario, our country would lose between $2 billion and $11 billion dollars per year in climate and public health benefits by replacing the Clean Power Plan with the Dirty Power Plan.
Meanwhile, California is moving forward on efforts to cut climate altering pollution and create new opportunities in the clean energy economy. Since Donald Trump took office, California passed a bill to move the state to 100 percent clean energy by 2045. Countless jobs in clean energy were created, state energy regulators haven’t approved a new fossil fuel power plant, and multiple cities across the state committed to 100 percent clean energy. All of these efforts haven’t disrupted the states economy, which remains one of the largest in the world.
In response, Regional Campaign Manager Evan Gillespie released the following statement:
“The Trump Administration is failing us at a time when we need national leadership to stop the worst of the climate crisis. Californians know what it will take and is proof that investing in a clean energy will create jobs, protect the health of our families, and strengthen our economy. But we need to work as a nation to ensure efforts in California and so many other places aren’t done for nothing. It’s deeply unfortunate that the Trump Administration decided once again to act cowardly today instead of act with influence.”
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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.