“Once again, Trump’s EPA has kowtowed to big oil and gas at the expense of the health of millions of Americans,” said Emily Green, CLF Staff Attorney. “At a time when we have yet again experienced the Earth’s hottest month on record, the devastating impacts of climate chaos are impossible to ignore. Slashing the nation’s strongest policy for reducing carbon pollution is simply irresponsible and backward.”
In a move that will harm Americans’ health, economy, and climate, the Trump administration rolled out its proposed replacement to the Obama-era Clean Power Plan in June. The landmark Clean Power Plan was set to cut emissions from dirty coal plants—slashing pollution and combatting the looming climate crisis. CLF is fighting back against this shameless gift to the dying fossil fuel industry.
“The Trump administration is determined to destroy our planet in an effort to prop up faltering oil and gas giants,” said Greg Cunningham, VP and Director of CLF’s Clean Energy and Climate Change program. “Methane is over 80 times more damaging to our climate than carbon dioxide, and any increase in this dangerous gas only brings us closer to climate catastrophe. These senseless rollbacks are nothing but a giveaway to the dying fossil fuel industry and they will put countless lives at risk.”
“By the EPA’s own estimates, the new rule will result in the deaths of thousands of Americans,” Conservation Law Foundation attorney James Crowley said in a statement. “The Trump administration’s pathetic rule is nothing more than a lifeline for dying coal plants, and we will continue to fight it.”
“ACE should stand for appalling and corrupt,” said CLF attorney James Crowley. “By the EPA’s own estimates, the new rule will result in the deaths of thousands of Americans. The Trump administration’s pathetic rule is nothing more than a lifeline for dying coal plants, and we will continue to fight it.”
As the Trump administration continues to shirk its responsibilities on climate, New England states have recognized the need for local leadership to fill the federal void.
Springfield, alongside community and environmental organizations like CLF, has been fighting this proposed biomass plant for years. We set the fight aside in 2017 when Palmer Renewable Energy, the company behind the proposal, paused its plans for construction. But now the company is back, hoping that its efforts to weaken state policy will bring its proposal back to life.
With recently passed legislation, community choice power is on the verge of becoming a powerful tool for local, community-based efforts to advance clean energy, save people money, and curb carbon pollution.
Maine’s newly elected governor and legislature delivered on critical new laws that will cut climate-damaging emissions, protect Maine’s families and children from toxic chemicals, clean up our rivers, and save energy – all while creating jobs, growing new industries, and strengthening the economy.
The only way to fight back against these economic, health and environmental impacts is to drop our fossil fuel habit and drastically lower our polluting emissions now, and this law will help get us there.
