President Trump today issued an Energy Independence Executive Order that was framed as a means for rolling back most of President Barack Obama’s climate-change legacy, specifically through the Clean Power Plan.
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’s executive director, Dr. Stephen A. Smith, issued this statement in response:
“Today’s announcement by Trump Administration rolling back important safeguards offered by the Clean Power Plan is the heigh of irresponsibility and is governmental malpractice.
We know there are tens of thousands of lives impacted by air pollution, so to stop progress in protecting human health is unacceptable.
For the Trump Administration to roll back these safeguards without a coherent plan to replace the Clean Power Plan creates uncertainty in the marketplace for energy planners and utilities alike.
The good news is, in the near term, most of our Southeastern utilities, including Tennessee Vallay Authority, Duke Energy, Southern Company, and Florida Power & Light, have set positive changes into motion that are well on the way to meeting the targets of the Clean Power Plan. These targets are based not only on environmental protection goals but also on sound economic decision making.
We will be vigilant to ensure there will be no backsliding in our region, and we are confident these good economic decisions will continue moving forward.
The lack of a coherent approach to climate change by the Trump Administration bodes poorly for current and future generations and fails to step up to the responsibilities of addressing the causes and impacts of climate change once and for all.”
