JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday dismantling the plan his predecessor, President Barack Obama put into effect in 2015. The Clean Power Plan was meant to reduce CO2 emissions, which many climate scientists say contribute to man-made global warming, from power plants. Trump’s action marked a step back from the environmentally conscious administration of Obama.
However, Attorney General Josh Hawley sees it as a victory for Missouri.
Hawley said the Clean Power Plan hurt Missouri by installing a massive network of regulations that would have driven energy prices up in Missouri by double digits. Missouri challenged the regulations in federal court as unconstitutional.
“This is a major win for the people of Missouri,” Hawley said in a statement. “As we have long argued and as legal experts from across the political spectrum have recognized, these regulations are flatly unconstitutional. We fought these job-killing regulations in court and soon they will be gone. Relief is on the way for Missouri families.”
Missouri was one of 27 states that challenged the Clean Power Plan in federal court. The US Supreme Court issued an injunction against the plan in February 2016.
The plan, which was put into effect in 2015, was designed to cut power plant emissions of carbon dioxide and help the environment. The Clean Power Plan required that, by 2030, the power sector’s CO2 emissions be brought down to 32 percent below their 2005 levels, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
This is not Trump’s first take down of environmentally conscious legislation given his advances on the Keystone Pipeline and Dakota Access Line, two controversial infrastructure projects opposed by environmentalists, among other groups. Repealing these provisions will likely not be Trump’s last acts either as he pushes a pro-business agenda and has dismissed concerns about global warming, including his claim that climate change is a hoax crafted by the Chinese.