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March 15, 2017
Trump to Sign Executive Order Removing "Climate Change" As Factor Government Agencies Regulate
I don't know how much Putin paid this guy, but I know I'm getting my money's worth.
Not just the EPA, either.
President Donald Trump is set to sign a sweeping directive to dramatically shrink the role climate change plays in decisions across the government, ranging from appliance standards to pipeline approvals, according to a person familiar with the administration's plan.
The order, which could be signed this week, goes far beyond a targeted assault on Obama-era measures blocking coal leasing and throttling greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that has been discussed for weeks. Some of the changes could happen immediately; others could take years to implement.
It aims to reverse President Barack Obama's broad approach for addressing climate change. One Obama-era policy instructed government agencies to factor climate change into formal environmental reviews, such as that for the Keystone XL pipeline. Trump's order also will compel a reconsideration of the government's use of a metric known as the "social cost of carbon" that reflects the potential economic damage from climate change. It was used by the Obama administration to justify a suite of regulations.
So knocking out this underlying justification also knocks out a bunch of regulations.
Of course, Trump is about to be impeached for paying $38 million in taxes in 2005, so, you know, anything can still happen.