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Trump Executive Order to Dismantle Clean Power Plan

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On 28 March 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth that directs the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw and rewrite the Clean Power Plan (CPP). The CPP was established under President Barack Obama and would have reduced emissions by 32% in the electricity sector compared to 2005 levels. Dismantling the CPP requires that the EPA introduces a new rule in a process that could take up to three years. As the new rule is likely to be less stringent than the CPP, this could also trigger a number of legal challenges from environmental organizations and states.

Implementation of the CPP is currently on hold following a stay issued by the Supreme Court on 9 February 2016. A ruling by the DC District Court on the validity of the CPP is also pending.

Trump’s executive order also directs the EPA to reconsider carbon standards for new coal power plants, regulations on methane emissions and hydraulic fracking, as well as the use of the social cost of carbon when agencies undertake a cost benefit analysis of new regulations.

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