NRDC: Trump’s Policies are Hurting the State of American Energy
Despite President Trump’s promise to slash energy costs in half, Americans are looking at higher electricity and heating costs because of his administration’s actions.
WASHINGTON, D.C.– In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump tried to deny the reality millions of American homeowners are facing and claimed that his policies are bringing down energy prices. That claim is false.
In fact, as Trump’s own Environmental Protection Agency concluded in an analysis just this month, the administration’s repeal of tax incentives for solar and wind power, combined with data-center load growth, is likely to continue to increase retail electricity prices. And the administration is trying to block new solar and offshore wind projects, denying new, low-cost power to consumers at a time when they need it most. Instead, the administration is forcing customers to pay to keep inefficient, old – and polluting – power plants from closing.
The following is comment from Alexandra Adams, chief policy advocacy officer at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“At a time when demand for electricity is booming, the Trump administration is trying to block the new sources of power that are the cheapest and fastest to build. Solar and wind are ready to go, but this administration is busy propping up the sputtering coal plants of the previous century, allowing them to keep polluting the air we all breathe.
“If President Trump is serious about lowering electricity and heating prices, his administration should embrace the clean energy of the future instead of forcing customers to pay millions of dollars more to keep dirty and inefficient plants from closing. One can always hope that commonsense will prevail.”
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).