Stark Contrast with Extensive Public Input to Establish the Plan
Statement of Lisa Pohlmann, CEO, Natural Resources Council of Maine
“We are deeply disturbed by the Trump Administration’s misguided plan to push through the repeal of the Clean Power Plan, which set the nation’s first limits on carbon pollution from power plants, despite overwhelming public support.
The Clean Power Plan has been widely supported by citizens and industry leaders across the United States and yet the public’s support is being cast aside in this hasty, superficial, and biased public input process.
“The current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) process to attack the Clean Power Plan includes only one public hearing, which is slated for November 28-29 in West Virginia, the largest coal producer east of the Mississippi River, and provides only a three-month comment period (through January 16, 2018).
“This stands in stark contrast with the Obama Administration’s extensive public input options to establish the Clean Power Plan. That process included meetings around the country and a six-month comment period, which resulted in more than eight million comments in favor of cutting power plant carbon pollution.
“The Obama-era EPA held four, two-day public hearings on the Clean Power Plan in Washington, DC, Atlanta, Denver, and Pittsburgh, featuring more than 1,600 speakers.
“It is clear that the Trump Administration’s primary objective is to grease the skids for oil and coal producers, not to protect the health of millions of Americans facing the harmful effects of ongoing carbon pollution from power plants and its climate-changing impacts.”
