In the United States, the war on coal is a phrase used by the coal industry and its supporters to describe what they claim was an effort by the Obama administration to impose stringent regulations on coal power in the United States and thereby make such power uneconomical.[1] Proponents of this phrase also often identify the Environmental Protection Agency as one of the chief entities waging this putative war,[2] although Michael Grunwald has claimed that the war on coal, although real, does not primarily happen at the national level but at the state and local level, and that the "boots on the ground" in the war are lawyers from the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign.[3] During Obama's tenure, the Obama administration denied that they were waging a war on coal, noting the possibility of upgrading older power plants with more efficient turbines, and also pointing to the possibility of carbon sequestration techniques.[4]
On March 28, 2017, in announcing an executive order aimed at revoking various rules regarding carbon emissions enacted during the Obama administration, President Donald Trump stated that "Our administration is putting an end to the war on coal."[5]
On October 9, 2017, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt reiterated "the war against coal is over" while announcing a move to repeal a rule on greenhouse gas emissions.[6]
- ^ Grunwald, Michael (1 June 2014). "New Carbon Rules the Next Step in Obama's War on Coal". Time. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ Gross, Daniel (17 July 2015). "Coal Is Losing the War on Coal". Slate. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ Grunwald, Michael (26 May 2015). "Inside the war on coal". Politico. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ Cassidy, John (2 June 2014). "Obama's "War on Coal" Is Worth Fighting". New Yorker. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis (March 28, 2017). "Trump moves decisively to wipe out Obama's climate-change record". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
- ^ Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis (October 9, 2017). "EPA chief Scott Pruitt tells coal miners he will repeal power-plan rule Tuesday: 'The war against coal is over'". Washington Post. Retrieved October 9, 2017.