Trump administration fudges the math to justify repealing the Clean Power Plan

After months of speculation, a leaked document last week from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency heralded the Trump administration's intent to repeal Obama's signature climate policy, the Clean Power Plan. Today, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt officially signed the agency's proposal to do so. To justify the rollback, the EPA got, um, very creative with its cost-benefit analysis of the plan. A press release accompanying the proposal states that repealing the CPP would save the country an estimated $33 billion in avoided compliance costs by 2030. The Obama administration, on the other hand, estimated that the plan would lead to a net gain of around $45 billion. The difference? Obama's EPA took into account savings through climate, health, and energy efficiency benefits. The Trumpian analysis conveniently leaves those out, while exaggerating the plan's costs. And given the swiftly falling prices of solar and wind power, the plan's net gain has actually increased, if anything.