US takes formal step to repeal Obama's power plant rule

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took a formal step to repeal measures put in place by former U.S. President Barack Obama that would limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on Tuesday issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, proposing to repeal the so-called Clean Power Plan, Xinhua news agency reported.

The US EPA said that the Obama-era regulation "exceeds the agency's statutory authority."

"We are committed to righting the wrongs of the Obama administration by cleaning the regulatory slate," Pruitt said in a statement.

"Any replacement rule will be done carefully, properly, and with humility, by listening to all those affected by the rule," he said.

The US EPA has sent the notice to the Federal Register for publication and the public will now have 60 days to submit comments.

It's not an unexpected move as President Donald Trump, who once called climate change a "hoax," announced in June that his country will leave the Paris Agreement on curbing global warming.

His administration considered efforts to fight climate change just to "be a waste of your money," a position met with widespread criticism both at home and abroad.

--IANS

pgh/