Pruitt Declares "The War Against Coal Is Over"

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt declared "the war against coal is over" yesterday in his announcement that the EPA will move to repeal the Clean Power Plan. In a lengthy proposal leaked last week that was then updated and signed October 10, the EPA proposes to repeal the Clean Power Plan (CPP), a controversial regulation designed to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired power plants. In support of the proposal, the EPA describes the Obama-era EPA's interpretation of the Clean Air Act as unlawful.

The Obama Administration promulgated the CPP under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act in 2015. In the 2015 CPP, the EPA determined that the best system of emission reduction (BSER) for CO2 emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired power plants was based on the following three "building blocks," or types of measures, that could be taken by owners of power plants: