Trump administration’s ‘Dirty Power Plan’ will increase Pennsylvania’s air pollution and climate risk

PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

[Philadelphia, PA] — Today, the Trump administration announced its Dirty Power Plan, which will increase air pollution and severe climate impacts across the nation, threatening the health of millions of Americans. The citizens of Pennsylvania and all Americans deserve better.

The Obama-era Clean Power Plan was set to cut carbon pollution from the electric power sector by 32 percent by 2030. The replacement plan will keep dirty coal plants online longer, dump millions of tons of global warming pollution into the atmosphere, and slow the transition of the power sector to clean, renewable energy.

PennEnvironment Executive Director, David Masur released the following statement:

“The people of Pennsylvania should no longer tolerate pollution from power plants that endangers our health, our well-being, and our children’s future. Continued reliance on 19th century fuel sources is a recipe for disaster, especially when we have cleaner, safer 21st century technologies.

That’s why we oppose President Trump’s Dirty Power Plan, which will increase carbon pollution from the burning of dangerous fossil fuels, accelerating the warming of the planet and changes in our climate. At a time when communities here in Pennsylvania and across the U.S. are threatened by scorching temperatures, flash floods and extreme storms, and historic wildfires and air pollution, this move is sheer reckless folly, and it could have profound consequences.

Just last month, the Trump administration announced the rollback of the Clean Car Standards, and now it is replacing the Clean Power Plan. Each regressive policy promoted by the administration makes it increasingly important for our states and cities to step in to protect our environment and make progress on climate change.

With the Trump administration ceding responsibility for climate change policy to the states, responsible decisions close to home are critical. We call on the governor, other state and local leaders, and businesses to step up their efforts to reduce carbon pollution and clean up our air. We need their strong leadership on the transition to clean energy more than ever.

We owe it to our children, our grandchildren, and the planet to do everything in our power to tackle climate change, not roll the climate dice to kowtow to polluters and their lobbyists in Washington DC.”

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PennEnvironment is a citizen-based, statewide environmental advocacy organization working to ensure clean air, clean water, and protecting Pennsylvania’s great natural heritage. For more information about this and other PennEnvironment projects, visit www.PennEnvironment.org.