Acting on promises he made during the 2016 election campaign, President Donald Trump is taking steps to overturn policies from the presidency of Barack Obama. Last Tuesday, the president signed an executive order that takes aim at environmental rules and other measures he says harm economic growth. Trump ordered a rewriting of rules aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions from power stations. Many scientists agree that gases such as carbon dioxide are partly to blame for rising temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere. But Trump says cutting the rules on power plant emissions will create jobs for Americans. Perhaps no single regulation threatens our miners, energy workers and companies more than this crushing attack on American industry. The Obama administration rules were meant to cut carbon dioxide from power plants by a third from 2005 levels by 2030. Trump’s action also lifts rules on coal, oil and gas production. And it reduces the effect of climate change in other federal rules.
