Trump’s newly released "Dirty Power Plan" is a fantasy

The Trump administration unveiled its rewrite (read: gutting) of the Clean Power Plan, one of President Obama’s signature efforts to curb the carbon pollution that fuels climate change. Dubbed by environmentalists as the "Dirty Power Plan," Trump's changes would sabotage U.S. climate goals, prop up failing coal power plants, and endanger public health through increased air pollution. The proposed plan relies on outdated data and discredited studies and simply does not reflect how our nation's electric grid actually works. Despite Trump’s claims to the contrary, the Clean Air Act gives the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the authority—and the obligation—to regulate climate-harming emissions, and the 2015 standards are both attainable and inexpensive to meet. The proposal would hand off regulatory authority to the states and allow them to set weak standards for coal plant pollution—or let plants off the hook entirely. Ultimately, experts say, the plan, which insists on looking backward toward the dying coal industry, would cause carbon pollution to go up. As California congressman Ted Lieu put nicely on Twitter: "Coal is not coming back for the same reason 35mm film is not coming back. Cheaper, cleaner, better alternatives were discovered."