It might sound counterintuitive that the Trump administration is contemplating a "replacement" version of former President Barack Obama's climate change rules, but that's what miners and major labor groups are pushing in meetings with the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House.
The EPA is reviewing the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan as part of a process that ultimately will see the plan repealed or re-proposed as a replacement rule that it can justify as legally defensible under the Clean Air Act.
A presentation given by the United Mine Workers of America and boiler and utility unions to the Office of Management and Budget at a June 26 meeting at the White House examined the legal basis for a replacement rule. The meeting included EPA, OMB, AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Utility Workers Union of America, and others.
The meeting was part of a series of meetings OMB is holding to review an EPA proposed rule on the Clean Power Plan that many believe will result in a replacement rule, rather than a repeal. But the proposal won't be made public until after the review period concludes.
"The details of any replacement rule will be up to EPA, we offered some suggestions, and we may have more in the future," said Phil Smith, the United Mine Workers' head of communications and government affairs. "I really have no way no gauge at this point whether or not they are serious about it."
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01.18.2025