The ink was hardly dry following President Trump’s signature on the highly-anticipated climate change executive order on Tuesday when a local chapter of a national grassroots environmental organization spoke out against the Commander-in-Chief’s actions.
“Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt are, sadly, doing what they have always done: making their friends in oil and gas rich while ignoring the rest of us and the common good,” said Johnson Bridgwater, Director of the Sierra Club’s Oklahoma chapter. “The attempted roll back of the Clean Power Plan and other clean air and clean water protections will cost lives and impact our health. And no matter what Trump wants, coal is no longer profitable, nor is it good for us — and we now have much better options. Coal is declining, and here in Oklahoma renewables like wind are booming, creating jobs and cleaning up our state.”
The Sierra Club’s national group warned that Trump’s order is the first in a series of steps designed to dismantle the Clean Power Plan while suppressing enforcement activities.
Trump has been vocal about his plans to roll back the Clean Power Plan for some time. By attacking the plan, Trump is poised to permit his new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Director – Scott Pruitt – to rewrite the plan in an attempt to revive the coal industry and create more jobs in the energy industry.