Trump Ends CO2 Emissions Regulatations; Environmentalists Respond

Washington, D. C. – President Trump signed an executive order yesterday ordering his administration to begin repealing a number of environmental policies including emissions standards for power plants. The order has the goal of increaseing oil and gas production with, but environmentalists say that the order will be detrimental and that it is unnecessary.

Director of Climate Parents, Lisa Hoyos, said, “At a time when countless communities have been devastated by climate impacts​ and when​ virtually every country on our planet has agreed on the urgent need to confront climate change, Donald Trump’s Executive Order declares it open season on our children’s health and safety. ​Parents around the country will double down to advocate for clean energy because our kids deserve clean air and water and a safe future.”

Executive Director of MomsCleanAirForce, Dominique Browning said the executive order “an unprecedented attack on clean air safeguards. Our children will bear the costs. Our families will bear the costs. Our communities will bear the costs. Never has a president, or an EPA head, acted with such reckless disregard for our health—or our safety in the face of the clear and present danger of climate change.”

Defenders of Wildlife Senior Policy Analyst, Climate Adaptation, Aimee Delach said, “This order cripples President Obama’s overarching strategy for climate change response, the Climate Action Plan, and takes direct aim at some of the Plan’s key elements, most notably efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants.”

Earlier this month in a CNBC interview, EPA Director, Scott Pruit said that carbon dioxide is not “a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” Politifact calls this claim, mostly false.

Thus far, the EPA website still contains the following wording about global warming:
“Research indicates that natural causes do not explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20th century. Rather, it is extremely likely that human activities have been the dominant cause of that warming”