US President Donald Trump plans to sign executive orders to revise carbon emissions initiatives signed by his predecessor Barack Obama from power plants, coal mining on federal land and government authority over bodies of water, The Washington Post reported on February 20.
The orders will instruct the US Department of the Interior to lift a ban on new coal mining leases on federal lands and will instruct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make changes to greenhouse gas emissions curbs on electric utilities, according to the report, cited by Reuters.
Trump has argued that lifting restrictions on coal mining will fulfil his pre-election promise to boost jobs. He has criticised rules aimed at reducing fossil-fuel use as an attack on the US coal industry. Plans to lift coal restrictions could run contrary to the Paris Agreement. The European Union has urged the new US Administration to respect the agreed obligations to fight climate change.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/trump-lift-coal-mining-restrictions/
