Court strikes down Trump administration’s ‘Dirty Power Plan’
Power plants won’t get a free pass to pump more global warming pollution into our atmosphere after all.
On Tuesday, Jan. 19 — a day before President Biden’s inauguration — a federal appeals court struck down the Trump administration’s “Dirty Power Plan,” which sought to repeal and replace the Obama administration’s carbon-cutting Clean Power Plan. Environment America had filed an amicus brief in the case, pointing to the threat that global warming poses to certain American national landmarks.
“Power plants are super polluters, and now the Environmental Protection Agency can no longer give them a free pass,” Andrea McGimsey, senior director for Environment America’s Global Warming Solutions campaign. “To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we’ve got to transition to clean energy as quickly as possible. This ruling is a major step in the right direction.”
Implemented in 2015, the Clean Power Plan aimed to cut U.S. carbon emissions by almost a third by 2030.
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Photo: Along with reducing global warming pollution, the Clean Power Plan also aimed to improve air quality. Credit: David Sprott via Shutterstock