Trump Reshaped U.S. Climate Policy in One Month: August 2018

by Maxine Joselow and Benjamin Storrow (E&E News) ... First came the rollback of clean car rules, an aggressive effort to unravel former President Obama's program to reduce tailpipe pollution. Then came the Clean Power Plan replacement, another muscular move that dismantles Obama's signature initiative for curbing emissions from the power sector.

The twin blows could have an outsized impact on carbon-cutting efforts globally, analysts said, potentially slowing the pace of emission reductions internationally and halting momentum to decarbonize the economy. EPA's own analysis suggests that replacing the two Obama-era standards with Trump's proposals would increase carbon emissions by as much as 141 million metric tons in 2030 — the equivalent of running around 35 coal-fired power plants for a year.

"I've started to describe this as a one-two punch for the climate," said Janet McCabe, who served as acting EPA air chief under Obama. "If people weren't convinced already that this administration is not focused on taking real action on climate change, this ought to convince them."

Transportation is the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, followed by the power sector. Emissions from cars and trucks have slowly climbed in recent years, while power-sector emissions have dropped.

EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier this month outlined a series of options for the clean car rules. The agency's preference was freezing fuel economy targets at 2020 levels through 2026, rather than maintaining Obama's year-over-year fuel efficiency increases (Greenwire, Aug. 2). EPA estimates show that the freeze would increase emissions by about 100 million metric tons of CO2 in 2030.

In their own analysis, the agencies acknowledge that the weakened car rule would lead to a 9 percent increase in greenhouse gas emissions through 2100. And the Rhodium Group, an economic consulting firm, estimates that the rollback would release up to an additional 931 million metric tons of CO2 between 2022 and 2035.

That's equivalent to adding 199 million new passenger vehicles to the road for a year, according to a tool on EPA's website that lets consumers calculate the impact of their emissions. It's also equivalent to running 231 coal-fired power plants for a year. READ MORE