cleanish power plan
Scott Pruitt's resignation overshadowed the EPA's big Clean Power Plan replacement
Scott Pruitt may have resigned as Environmental Protection Agency administrator, but his agenda hasn't left the building.
Just hours before President Trump announced Pruitt's resignation on Thursday, the EPA finished drafting its replacement for former President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan. The new plan swaps Obama's proposed overhaul of the energy system for much less ambitious emission-cutting goals, The New York Times reports.
Pruitt was always expected to deprioritize sustainable energy, and he announced the White House would repeal and replace the Clean Power Plan last October. The Obama-era proposal set nationwide limits on carbon pollution and aimed for a widespread transition to renewable energy by 2030. This new plan has those same priorities — sort of.
Industry officials tell the Times that completely repealing emissions regulations probably wouldn't have lasted in court, so the new plan still addresses greenhouse gases to some extent. But its goals are a lot more modest than Obama's major plan, only prompting coal plants to improve efficiency in order to cut some emissions. What impact these new rules have on the coal industry will likely be minor.
The not-so-Clean Power Plan will likely head to the White House for approval in the next few days, per the Times.