WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that he said is “the start of a new era in American energy and production and job creation.”
The executive order impacts coal power plants by calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to review the Clean Power Plan, and lifts restrictions on new coal leases on federal lands.
“The action I am taking today will eliminate federal overreach, restore economic freedom and allow our companies to thrive, compete and succeed on a level playing field for the first time in a long time,” Trump said at EPA headquarters.
Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and EPA administrator Scott Pruitt stood by the president during his address.
The Clean Power Plan, which was proposed in August 2015 by then-President Barack Obama, established carbon dioxide emission rates at coal power plants in an effort to cut emissions at electricity facilities by 32 percent by 2030.
The policy has been on hold since February 2016. Twenty-seven states, including West Virginia, filed suit over the plan’s implementation.
“Perhaps no single regulation threatens our miners, workers and companies more than this crushing attack on American industry,” Trump said.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey was at the signing along with U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Reps. David McKinley, R-W.Va., and Evan Jenkins, R-W.Va., and coal miners.
“It tried to transform the EPA from being an environmental regulator into a central energy planning authority,” Morrisey said of the Clean Power Plan. “That’s completely inconsistent with the Clean Air Act and the Constitution.”
Capito said the policy would have severely damaged West Virginia’s coal companies.
“Stopping this disastrous plan will preserve America’s coal industry, expand our manufacturing renaissance that is reliant upon affordable energy and protect American families from unprecedented hikes in their electric bills,” she said in a statement.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said in a statement the Clean Power Plan failed to balance economic and environmental interests.
“I encourage the new administration to work with us to promote the advanced clean energy technology of the future that we can develop right here in West Virginia,” he said.
In January 2016, the Department of the Interior announced a three-year pause on issuing coal leases on public plans, a program that cost around $1 billion.
Trump said his administration is working to put an end to the “war on coal.”
“Together, we will create millions of good American jobs, also so many energy jobs and really lead to unbelievable prosperity all throughout our country,” the president said.
However, regulation is not the only issuing facing the coal industry; between 2007 and 2016, the energy produced by coal plants fell from 49 percent to 30 percent of the nation’s total electricity production.
In comparison, electricity produced at natural gas facilities increased from 22 percent to 34 percent during that same period. Natural gas is cheaper and more available for use compared to coal.
Morrisey said people still need to take into account how damaging regulations have been to the coal industry.
“They had a very negative impact,” Morrisey said.
Trump said his actions are part of efforts to follow through on promises he made as a presidential candidate.
“I went to a group of miners in West Virginia and I said, ‘How about this: Why don’t we get together, we go to another place and you’ll get another job? You won’t mine anymore. Do you like that idea?'” Trump said.
“They said, ‘No, we don’t like that idea. We love to mine. That’s what we want to do.'”
McKinley, who serves as the chairman of the Congressional Coal Caucus, said in a press release Trump’s order provides relief for communities still struggling from the downturn of the coal industry.
Mooney called the Clean Power Plan a “nightmare.”
“As unemployment skyrocketed and coal mines closed, President Obama and his left-wing supporters focused on executing on his promise to bankrupt the coal industry,” the congressman said in a statement.
In a press release, Jenkins said he was proud to stand with Trump, adding he will continue to work with the administration on plans to help improve West Virginia.
“After eight years of radical environmental policies from the White House, we now have a president focused on bringing coal jobs back,” Jenkins said.
Trump also said the nation would have clean coal. Clean coal technology has been questioned because of the high costs to build and operate facilities.