Perhaps President Trump should start ignoring climate change altogether.
Trump ditched former President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan in 2017 and lined up a replacement that has yet to take effect. But this current policy-less limbo is likely better than what's to come, a Harvard University study published Monday reveals.
Trump's new policy, dubbed the Affordable Clean Energy rule, eliminates standards dictating just how quickly America has to rid itself of coal-fired energy sources. This obviously means Trump's plan would allow higher coal emission levels than Obama's strict standards. But it would also cause an 8.7 percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions in 18 states and Washington, D.C. by 2030, "compared with having no policy at all," The Guardian reports via the study.
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Greenhouse gas emissions are already warming the planet and leading to drastically more devastating storms, droughts, and wildfires. By "throw[ing] a wrench into the climate action plans for many states and cities," the Affordable Clean Energy rule "could make things even worse," study co-author Jonathan Buonocore tells The Guardian. After all, the EPA's own analysis showed as many as 1,400 additional Americans could die prematurely each year by 2030 by inhaling the deadly fumes.
The study was released just before Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler faces a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday to drop "acting" from his title. Walker used to be a coal lobbyist and is "an architect of the new Trump emissions policy," The Guardian writes. Read more about the study at The Guardian, and check out the whole study here.
