US to announce repeal of clean power plan

The US government on Tuesday will formally announce a repeal of the Clean Power Plan, a signature effort by former US President Barack Obama to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the media reported.

Scott Pruitt, head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announced at an event in Kentucky that he will sign a proposed rule on Tuesday to roll back the regulation, saying it was "about picking winners and losers", Xinhua news agency reported.

"Under the interpretation proposed in this notice, the CPP (Clean Power Plan) exceeds the EPA's statutory authority and would be repealed," wrote a copy of the the leaked proposal obtained by the US media.

"The EPA welcomes comment on the legal interpretation addressed in this proposed rulemaking."

The Obama administration issued the plan in October, 2015, requiring coal-fired power plants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. However, the US Supreme Court voted five to four later to put it on hold .

In March this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, directing the EPA to "suspend, revise, or rescind" the Obama-era rule.

Trump, who once called climate change a "hoax," also announced in June that his country will leave the Paris Agreement on curbing global warming.

His position on climate change was met with widespread criticism both at home and abroad.

--IANS

pgh/