Environmentalists Vow To Fight Donald Trump's 'Dangerous,' 'Embarrassing' Climate Rollback

Environmentalists and former White House officials on Monday slammed President Donald Trump’s impending executive order that would undue much of the work his predecessor has done to combat climate change. Trump was due to sign the Energy Independence Executive Order on Tuesday, which will target former President Barack Obama’s signature Clean Power Plan and open up federal land to coal development. But environmentalists are not giving up without a fight and plan to protest the wide-ranging order that has been met with fierce criticism. Gina McCarthy, a former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, called it a “dangerous,” order that flies “in the face of EPA’s mission.” “They want us to travel back to when smokestacks damaged our health and polluted our air, instead of taking every opportunity to support clean jobs of the future,” McCarthy said in a statement. “This is not just dangerous; it’s embarrassing to us and our businesses on a global scale to be dismissing opportunities for new technologies, economic growth, and US leadership.” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, a noted climate change denier, said Tuesday’s order would “address the past administration’s effort to kill jobs throughout the country” ― a statement that couldn’t be more different from the agency’s stance just three months ago. Janet McCabe, the former head of the EPA’s ...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news