Pruitt said the Trump order would undo the Obama administration’s clean power plan, which restricts greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants. The clean power plan, which aims to cut emissions of CO2 and other emissions and was implemented in 2015, has been on hold since last year while a federal appeals court considered a challenge by Republican-led states and more than 100 companies. “We can be both pro-jobs and pro-environment.” He argued that the Obama administration “had a very anti-fossil fuel strategy – coal, natural gas and the rest”, and that it made “efforts to kill jobs across this country through the clean power plan”. They keep older cars.”Trump begins rollback of Obama's car pollution standards to curb emissions Read morePressed on whether the administration would block a measure by California to tighten its fuel emissions standards, Pruitt said only it was “something we’re going to be evaluating”. Supporters of the clean power plan, including some Democratic-led states and environmental groups, argue it would promote thousands of clean energy jobs and help the US meet ambitious goals to reduce carbon pollution set by an international agreement reached in Paris in late 2015.

Source: The Guardian March 26, 2017 19:52 UTC