Time’s up for bogus environmental do-gooders as the U.S. government rolls back anti-coal regulations left over from the Obama era. President Donald Trump has eased restrictions that have stifled innovation in the country’s power sector.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently revised standardson coal ash disposal in a move decried by inflexible tree huggers but welcomed by the utility companies for whom the legislation has proved unnecessarily burdensome – to the tune of a $30 million a year—and by states, who have been unfairly constrained by the strict federal standards.
The initiative comes just a few weeks into Andrew Wheeler’s tenure at the helm of the EPA, and should ease conservatives’ concernsthat Wheeler wouldn’t share former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s zeal for overhauling the agency and scrapping useless regulations which have been handicapping American companies. Wheeler choice to relax the restrictions on coal ash disposal as one of his first policy decisions confirms that his appointment was a savvy move by an administration committed to saving mining jobs and reviving interest in one of America’s most abundant natural resources.
The EPA’s policy shift is the latest step in the new administration’s war on Obama’s war on coal, emphasizing President Trump’s determination to liberate the American coal industry from the shackles Obama imposed on it. The excessive regulations Obama held back crucial technological developments, such as high-efficiency, low-emissions (HELE) plants designed to make fossil fuels more climate friendly.
This administration’s new, more pragmatic approach to energy policy and regulation will allow America to spearhead a fresh wave of innovation, developing ‘clean coal’ technologies to be used around the world. There’s a significant market for this technology, as demand for coal-powered energy is on the rise in…
