The Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy Plan would help the declining coal industry, but a study shows many coal workers could transition to a new industry – solar – and earn more money.
Grid operators set the prices for energy markets and are structured to take the lowest prices – a disadvantage for coal and nuclear power.
Two moves by the Trump administration signal a dramatic shift in energy policy to favor coal and nuclear, but markets forces and legal challenges mean changes could take years.
Wave goodbye to US climate leadership.
EPA/Ron Sachs
Donald Trump has signalled the end of US leadership on climate policy, with potentially unpleasant consequences for America’s economy, security and diplomatic standing.
Trump signed the executive order surrounded by coal miners, saying it was ‘about jobs.’
AP Photo/Matthew Brown
Trump’s executive order on climate will cede American leadership internationally and scores a political win. But reversing all Obama’s work will require big wins in court.
The current EPA administrator says the agency should prioritize clean air and clean water, rather than deal with greenhouse gases.
billy_wilson/flickr
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has said the agency’s purview should not include climate change, but a look at its history under both Republican and Democratic presidents says otherwise.
The bad old days: Public and political support for the EPA was highest when environmental problems like air and water pollution were more obvious than current problems like climate change or endocrine disruptors.
U.S. National Archives
Today’s political climate gives new EPA head Scott Pruitt a clear path to seriously cut back EPA enforcement – more than previous administrations.
If carbon regulations restrict how much a company can pollute where it’s located, it could move operations (and jobs) to another country – with no reduction in emissions.
billy_wilson/flickr
The ‘war on coal’ is not really a result of onerous regulations but a combination of market forces over which a Trump administration has limited control.
In addition to the Clean Power Act policy for climate change, the Supreme Court will be hearing cases on the extent of protections under the Clean Water Act.
ex_magician/flickr
A look at Scalia’s decidedly negative legacy on environment reveals how important the next Supreme Court will be on environmental questions, including the EPA Clean Power Plan.
By putting a temporary halt to Obama’s cornerstone climate policy, the Supreme Court puts the next president in the driver’s seat.
tabor-roeder/flickr
Cara Horowitz, University of California, Los Angeles
Even before the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court’s stay placed the fate of the EPA Clean Power Plan into the hands of the next president.
Supreme Court justices at the State of the Union: will its surprising EPA decision be seen as an environmental version of the controversial Bush v. Gore?
Reuters
By halting Obama’s cornerstone climate policy before considering its legality, the Supreme Court could further tarnish its partisan reputation.
Locked down? Obama, with Secretary of State John Kerry, committed to further cuts in emissions from the US at Paris climate summit.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Anti-nuclear advocates may cheer the closing of nuclear power plants in the US, but thanks to cheap natural gas, less nuclear power means higher emissions.
Conventional wisdom says Barack Obama will hit political obstacles on the way to fulfilling his climate ambitions. But they might be easier to sidestep than you think,
EPA/Michael Reynolds/AAP
Much has been made of the domestic political roadblocks between US President Barack Obama and climate action. But by using existing treaties he can get around the hostile Congress and help cut global emissions.
Obama talks the talk on renewables, but his plan will help fossil fuels.
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
It’s pledge season: countries are beginning to submit carbon reduction commitments for the Paris climate talks later this year. What’s the US doing and can it meet its targets?
The president’s plan attacks coal power – but won’t fix climate change.
Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
President Obama’s new targets for emissions from electricity are a crucial step towards a credible US climate policy. And where the United States leads, others are more likely to follow.
EPA to states: we need a reductions plan.
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