Opinion

Pure folly in embracing coal

Emissions rise from smoke stacks at Pacificorp’s 1000 megawatt coal fired power plant on Oct. 9 outside Huntington, Utah. The Trump administration’s EPA is repealing the Clean Power Plan, that was put in place by the Obama administration. Critics say this signals a retreat from needed U.S. leadership on climate change. less Emissions rise from smoke stacks at Pacificorp’s 1000 megawatt coal fired power plant on Oct. 9 outside Huntington, Utah. The Trump administration’s EPA is repealing the Clean Power Plan, that was put in ... more Photo: George Frey /Getty Images Photo: George Frey /Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Pure folly in embracing coal 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

With all due respect to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the war against coal has been over for a long time. Natural gas and renewable energy sources have won.

In announcing the formal repeal of the Clean Power Plan, which has been a dead plan walking since the 2016 presidential election, Pruitt chose to speak directly to coal workers, giving his speech in Kentucky.

“The war against coal is over,” he declared.

This is pure folly on so many levels. Not only does it ignore the clear reality that carbon emissions are linked to climate change, it also ignores market forces. Natural gas prices are so low, and are projected to remain low for so long, that coal has become obsolete as an energy source. The cost of renewable energy will continue to fall.

With or without the Clean Power Plan, the coal industry, which, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employs about 52,000 people, isn’t coming back. So, the Trump administration is undercutting emerging technology and American global leadership to curb climate change — to appease an industry whose product can’t compete in the marketplace.

That’s demoralizing, as was President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. To turn away from the reality of climate science is to turn away from American leadership, ingenuity and wherewithal. It is to turn away from the world.

The decision to repeal the Clean Power Plan will continue in the courts for years — quite possibly outlasting the Trump administration. As the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, the EPA is required to regulate carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act. And the EPA has previously found carbon dioxide emissions are dangerous to public health. Pruitt could reverse this, but he would need scientific evidence.

Pruitt will also have to develop a replacement rule. He could propose an ersatz rule that is so loose it does nothing to curb carbon emissions. But that, too, would almost certainly end up in court.

For industry, which craves regulatory certainty, this is a nightmare. There is no regulatory plan, and whatever flexibility and relief utilities gain from Pruitt’s actions could boomerang under another administration after Trump — one that puts forward far more stringent regulations on carbon emissions than the Clean Power Plan.

Here’s the clear reality: The Trump administration is sacrificing American leadership, and flirting with climate disaster, to support a fossil fuel drifting into obsolescence.