“Affordable Clean Energy” Rule a Good First Step

WASHINGTON — The Institute for Energy Research is pleased President Trump has acknowledged the disastrous impact Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) would have on American families, and has taken steps to rein in EPA power in better alignment with the Clean Air Act. While IER holds that a full repeal of the CPP is necessary to restore liberty to electricity markets and keep energy affordable for American households, the ACE rule is an improvement over the CPP. IER President Thomas J. Pyle issued the following statement:

“The Clean Power Plan (CPP) grew EPA power in unprecedented and harmful ways, marking a clear deviation from the agency’s traditional role by grossly misapplying the Clean Air Act. The ‘Affordable Clean Energy Rule’ proposed by the Trump Administration corrects some of the CPP’s worst flaws. By reining in the EPA, the ‘Affordable Clean Energy’ rule limits the negative economic impacts a back door federal renewable mandate would have on American families. However, we still maintain that only a full repeal of the Obama era regulation will fully protect ratepayers.

“The Clean Power Plan was never about clean power. The nation’s electricity generation fleet is already very clean and getting cleaner — as shown by the nearly 70-percent reduction in criteria pollutants since 1970. The real purpose of the CPP was to shift the economy away from affordable and reliable electricity sources and towards wind and solar – a back door federal renewable mandate – consistent with the previous administration’s climate ideology. We are pleased to see the Trump Administration following through on his campaign promise by tackling the CPP. President Trump has withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement and proposed a reform of the CAFE mandate, a third notch in his belt would be to fully rescind Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan. While today’s rule falls short of that, it is certainly a good first step.”

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For media inquiries, please contact Erin Amsberry
eamsberry@ierdc.org

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