Facts Best Fiction as D.C. Circuit Strikes Down Trump EPA's Affordable Clean Energy Rule

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated and remanded back to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the Trump administration's "Affordable Clean Energy" (ACE) rule, marking a major blow to the administration's coal-favoring agenda, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

Below is a statement by Julie McNamara, senior energy analyst in the Climate and Energy Program at UCS.

"Over the past four years, the administration has tried at every turn to undercut climate science and the need for robust climate action. Today, the facts won out.

"The D.C. Circuit has issued a resounding rebuke of the administration's Affordable Clean Energy rule, confirming what was glaringly apparent from the start. The administration willfully misconstrued the Clean Air Act and acted unlawfully in adopting a rule that failed to protect the environment and public health.

"I'm heartened by this clear rejection of the administration's repeated efforts to subvert the interests of the public in favor of ideology and special interests. Today's ruling, coupled with last week's failure by the administration to roll back carbon emission standards for new coal plants, has revealed the administration's rhetoric as nothing but hot air.

"The change in administration can't come quickly enough."

For insights on the Trump administration's parallel failure to ease carbon emission standards for new coal plants last week, see Julie's blog post "New Documents Reveal the Spectacular Unraveling of a Final Trump Polluter Hand-Out," which will be posted to The Equation shortly.