U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Massachusetts, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, on Thursday sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to roll back Obama era regulations designed to curb the effects of climate change.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday eliminated targets set by the Obama administration that would have required states to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. It would have hit coal power plants hard.

“President Trump’s decision to roll back landmark environmental regulations enacted by the Obama administration is unwarranted and unwise," Neal said in a statement. “The EPA’s plan will benefit the coal industry and significantly harm efforts to curb the effects of climate change."

The Springfield Democrat added, "Greenhouse gas emissions will increase, global temperatures will continue to rise, and the consequences for our environment could be far reaching.”

Trump has long expressed doubt on the existence and effects of climate change. He once tweeted that the “concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”

Neal warned that "denying widely accepted scientific findings on global warming is dangerous and will have long term effects for our planet.”