EPA Administrator Pruitt Announces Repeal of Obama’s Clean Power Plan
This week Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the end of one of the most onerous and costly regulatory regimes put forth under former President Obama, the Clean Power Plan (CPP).
Administrator Pruitt made the announcement at a local coal equipment business in Eastern Kentucky. Pruitt noted that Obama’s CCP exceeds the authority granted by the Clean Air Act, among other issues, and by signing the notice of proposed rulemaking the EPA can proceed in planning a repeal strategy. Once the rule is published in the Federal Register, stakeholders will have 60-days to submit public comments.
In March of this year President Trump signed the “Energy Independence” executive order, targeting costly Obama era regulatory policies, the focus of which was the CPP. In the release issued by the EPA this week, the Agency noted the CPP was estimated to cost $33 billion annually, with annual compliance costs estimated to reach over $70 billion.
American businesses and consumers have dodged an economic bullet from the CPP that would have raised electricity costs from 12-17 percent, with every state seeing increases, 44 of which would see double-digit rate increases. This is music to the ears of middle-income families that would have seen job losses and a projected decrease in household spending power between $64 and $79 billion.
Even with the CPP having not gone into effect, and having been stayed by the Supreme Court, power companies have been reducing carbon emissions on their own for years. This hasn’t stopped Democrats and activists from pledging lawsuits against the agency.
Pruitt stated that there could be a more industry-friendly replacement rule, but did not confirm. Either way, the actions taken by EPA Administrator Pruitt and the Trump Administration this week to reign in the regulatory overreach left over by the Obama Administration are a boon for consumers and the U.S. economy.