The Trump administration proposed the repeal Tuesday of the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era rule that required states to find ways to sharply reduce power plant emissions that contribute to climate change.

Reaction was mixed in Montana.

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"The Clean Power Plan was less about carbon emissions than it was about raw political power and one federal agency's desire to obtain it,” Travis Kavulla of Great Falls, vice chairman of the Montana Public Service Commission, said in a statement issued by Republican PSC members welcoming the proposed repeal. “Even those who believe something should be done about carbon emissions know that this was the wrong way to go about doing it.”

Public comments will be taken on the proposal for 60 days.

After that, the EPA will assess whether further regulatory action is warranted.

“I work alongside my employees, outdoors, hosting visitors to my family's ranch,” said Juanita Vero, chairwoman of the Montana Conservation Voters board. “The Trump administration's decision to repeal the Clean Power Plan will not only put me and my employees at risk but also Montana's outdoor way of life by worsening climate change and increasing air pollution.”

In announcing the proposed repeal, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said the Obama administration went too far with the rule, describing it as an expansive view of the agency’s authority and the Clean Air Act.

“We are committed to righting the wrongs of the Obama administration by cleaning the regulatory slate,” Pruitt said. “Any replacement rule will be done carefully, properly, and with humility, by listening to all those affected by the rule.”

The Clean Power Plan gave states until 2030 to slash carbon pollution at power plants by 30 percent nationally through various means including development of cleaner ways to develop electricity and improvements at existing facilities.

Reductions varied from state to state. Montana, for instance, had to come up with a plan to cut carbon intensity by 47 percent, one of the largest reductions in the nation.

“The CPP ignored states’ concerns and eroded longstanding and important partnerships that are a necessary part of achieving positive environmental outcomes,” Pruitt said.

Repealing the rule will save up to $33 billion in avoided compliance costs in 2030, the EPA said.

Roughly 50 percent of the Montana's power is generated by coal with the rest coming from renewable energy and natural gas sources.

About 11 sources were potentially affected including coal- and natural-gas fired power plants and petroleum refining units called cokers, according to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

“Utilities across the country have made resource planning decisions based on this regulation and in some cases a carbon-cost component is already baked into the rates customers pay for electricity,” PSC Chairman Brad Johnson of East Helena said. “Those decisions can’t be easily undone and ratepayers will continue to suffer higher electricity prices as a result.”

The Clean Power Plan was EPA's attempt to create energy policy for states such as Montana using an obscure provision of the federal Clean Air Act, said Kavulla, the PSC vice chairman. That law was intended to give EPA authority to require upgrades to power plants.

Instead, EPA reinterpreted the law in an attempt to rearrange the entire structure of the electric sector, Kavulla said.

Vero, of the Montana Conservation Voters board, said the plan was achievable and provided a flexible set of tools for states to curb carbon pollution emissions.

"President Trump’s announcement today is another attempt to divert us from the real issues, and a bait-and-switch at the expense of our economy, our climate, and our health,” said Ben Reed, a Billings energy developer and member of the Northern Plains Resource Council, which criticized the proposed Clean Power Plan repeal. “Clean energy is one of the fastest growing sectors of the American economy, boosting manufacturing and employment with numbers unmatched by nearly every other economic sector.”

Montana-based conservation groups called the Clean Power Plan the nation's first step toward curbing carbon pollution from the nation's dirtiest coal-fired power plants that contribute to climate change.

In January 2016, Gov. Steve Bullock announced he was appointing a 27-member Interim Clean Power Plan Advisory Council charged with coming up with recommendations for carbon emission reductions to meet the EPA mandate.

At the time, Bullock said the state would attempt to improve its traditional base of energy generation while sparking a new generation of clean technology business.

Montana Attorney General Tim Fox joined a lawsuit by several states challenging the plan.

“We’re glad to see the Trump administration is rolling back something that was unlawful to begin with,” said Eric Sell, director of communications for the Montana Department of Justice.

The EPA cited rising temperatures and sea level, changes in weather and ecosystems, more heat waves and drought when it released the plan in June 2014.

The Supreme Court later issued a stay on its implementation, which Pruitt cited as an example of how the Obama administration overstepped its bounds.

