WASHINGTON — American Energy Alliance President Thomas Pyle issued the following statement about President Trump’s executive order on energy and climate policy:
“President Trump’s executive order should be welcome news for America’s middle class and those living in poverty, who would be hardest hit by the previous administration’s harmful climate regulations. Americans depend on affordable, reliable electricity for their livelihood, but regulations like the Clean Power Plan would send electricity prices skyrocketing. Not only would this regulation harm Americans’ pocketbooks, but it would have virtually no impact on global average temperatures.
“On top of being a morally bankrupt regulation, the Clean Power Plan was an unprecedented power grab by the previous administration that was built on a shaky legal foundation. This executive order won’t get rid of the regulation overnight, but it’s an important first step that reaffirms President Trump’s commitment to protecting American families from higher energy costs.
“President Trump is standing up for American coal miners by ordering the Interior Department to lift the arbitrary and unnecessary ban on new federal coal leases. This action is crucial for putting coal miners back to work producing our country’s vast coal resources. It’s clear that the Trump administration is serious about reviving America’s energy sector, awakening our economy, and creating jobs for people who were cast aside by the previous administration.
“The Trump administration’s decision to review the ‘social cost of carbon’ is a victory for anyone who favors sound rulemaking. The social cost of carbon is an arbitrary and speculative metric that should never have been used to shape federal energy policy.
“Missing from this executive order, however, is any mention of the Paris climate agreement or the endangerment finding. We urge the president to fulfill his campaign promises to remove the U.S. from the Paris agreement and to review the endangerment finding. Though more challenging, it is crucial that the Trump administration address these two important issues. Failure to do so could risk the remainder of President Trump’s attempts to rein in the regulatory state and undo the harmful climate policies of the previous administration.
“There is still much more work to be done to reset the Obama administration’s punitive climate policies, but today’s executive order is a critical step forward.”
Click here to read the Institute for Energy Research’s formal comment on the Social Cost of Carbon.
Click here to view President Trump’s responses to AEA’s candidate questionnaire.
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