Trump’s Dirty Power Plan is much worse for kids’ health than for climate change | Dana Nuccitelli

Some of the reporting of the climate impacts of the Dirty Power Plan has been inaccurate

Last October, then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the agency would repeal the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. But because the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that carbon dioxide is an air pollutant and the Obama EPA correctly concluded that it poses a threat to public welfare via climate change, the EPA is legally obligated to do something to address that threat. That meant they needed a replacement plan.

Last week, the Trump EPA unveiled that plan and inaccurately named it the ‘Affordable Clean Energy Rule.’ The rule basically just extends the life of some dirty coal power plants and encourages them to run a bit more efficiently. The rule’s costs in worsening public health far exceed its monetary benefits. It would more accurately be named the ‘Expensive Dirty Power Plan.’

One of the remarkable things about the new EPA assessment released for Trump's power plan, isn't even related to the new plan.

The EPA has radically reduced the estimated impact of Obama's Clean Power Plan. 1/

900 more premature deaths per year

40,000 more annual cases of asthma

42,000 lost work days

60,000 more school absence days

230,000 more restricted-activity days for kids

In short, Obama’s CPP is a no brainer — small cost, huge benefits. And remember, this is according to figures buried in calculations released alongside the announced plan to repeal the CPP.

Yet, Trump has asserted for years that the CPP was a costly mistake, and that’s why the U.S. had to become the only major country in the world to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.

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from Asthma | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2wuNb72