IN THE NEWS: Undoing the Clean Power Plan

It’s a tough day to read the news if you believe in science, data and global warming.

Working in direct opposition to his predecessor’s climate protection efforts, President Trump today signed a series of executive actions that seek to walk back President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (which limits carbon pollution from power plants), as well as a series of his smaller executive orders and memorandums that sought to fight climate change. The Trump administration's changes include lifting a moratorium on new coal mining on public lands; eliminating a requirement that federal agencies consider climate change when evaluating future environmental permits; and recalculating the “social cost of carbon,” a metric that the Obama administration used to essentially put a price tag on carbon emissions ($36 per metric ton, in case you’re wondering!).

While today’s executive action doesn’t explicitly address the country’s participation in the Paris Climate Agreement, environmental experts agree that the United States will likely fail to meet the clean air commitments the agreement calls for thanks to the Trump administration’s new environmental policies.

It’s no surprise, perhaps, that a president who is on record as saying he’s “not a big believer in man-made climate change,” would seek to gut the regulations that protect American families -- and indeed those around the world -- from the pollution, environmental degradation, and negative health consequences of our collective behavior.

Nevertheless, we both feel sickened. So as always in moments like this, we pick up our phones and our pens and reach out to our senators and representatives. Speaking up is an obligation as much as it is a right, so we encourage you to do the same!