Trump’s rollback of coal rules electrifies Wyoming workers

In gutting President Obama’s climate change policies, President Trump boasts that his latest executive order will “spark a new energy revolution” and lead to “unbelievable” American prosperity. Even coal company executives have acknowledged that the executive order can’t bring mining jobs back.

Trump’s pledge to restore US coal production as a major energy source for America is unlikely to succeed because it’s now more economical for the U.S.to use shale natural gas – which burns at half the carbon intensity of coal – to produce electricity. The plan would have closed hundreds of power plants, and stopped the construction of new plants, replacing them with wind and solar farms.

Donald Trump has called global warming a “hoax“, and the sweeping national rejection of coal a “war”.

The order is the Trump administration’s attempt to make good on its promise to reverse most of Obama’s efforts to cut USA climate pollution and uphold America’s commitment to the Paris climate pact, which aims to prevent global warming from exceeding 2°C (3.6°F) – a level of warming that most of the world’s climate scientists consider unsafe.

Tell your representatives what you think about President Trump’s actions that will, in the long run, literally leave us breathless. Lignite Energy Council President Jason Bohrer said the order’s energy independence focus “will help preserve, protect and enhance the lignite coal industry, as well as strengthen research and development efforts to develop an abundant supply of electricity for American businesses and families”. Gas is clean and cheap. Each of the coal plants emits about 1 million tons of carbon dioxide a year in service of PSE customers, according to the privately owned utility’s greenhouse gas inventory. The Office coordinates DOE participation in global forums that focus on these topics, such as the Clean Energy Ministerial, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. China and India are taking climate change seriously, even if Trump is not. BSRIA said then that the deal must provide a stable environment that enables investment in cleaner, more affordable and more secure energy generation, including renewable and clean technologies.

We must send a clear message to our elected officials: Coal is the past and renewables are the future. Last year, the company raised its target and pledged to get half its power from renewable sources by 2025.

In Wisconsin, Brett Healy penned an op-ed in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel where he shared how damaging the Clean Power Plan would’ve been for families across the Badger State.

Rolling back the emission standards on cars, weakening rules protecting water and air, allowing new coal leasing on federal lands – these are all fiscally irresponsible.

Stan Dempsey is president of the Colorado Mining Association. A lot of those emission cuts are going to happen anyway, because they just make economic sense. Reducing federal pollution controls won’t have much effect. Trump’s welcomed executive order paves the way for the coal industry to recover – although that recovery will take time, as correctly noted last week by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.