The Trump administration is planning to pursue a less ambitious, more industry-friendly climate change rule for coal-fired power plants as it works to scrap the one written under former President Barack Obama.
Multiple sources familiar with the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans say that as soon as next month, the EPA could put out a preliminary proposal for a rule to replace the Clean Power Plan.
President Trump, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and others in the administration have long been critics of the Obama climate rule and are skeptical that human-produced emissions are changing the climate.
But the administration is starting to accept arguments from industry and business groups that for reasons like regulatory certainty and legal prudence, some limits on carbon emissions from power plants are a good idea.