US President
Donald Trump plans to sign executive orders to revise carbon emissions initiatives signed by his predecessor
Barack Obama
from power plants, coal mining on federal land and government authority
over bodies of water, The Washington Post reported on February 20.
The orders will instruct the US Department of the Interior to lift a
ban on new coal mining leases on federal lands and will instruct the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make changes to greenhouse gas
emissions curbs on electric utilities, according to the report, cited by
Reuters.
Trump has argued that lifting restrictions on coal mining will fulfil
his pre-election promise to boost jobs. He has criticised rules aimed
at reducing fossil-fuel use as an attack on the US coal industry. Plans
to lift coal restrictions could run contrary to the Paris Agreement. The
European Union has urged the new US Administration to respect the
agreed obligations to fight climate change.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/trump-lift-coal-mining-restrictions/