Trump Administration Admits 1,400+ More People Will Die Each Year Following Coal Plant Deregulation
President Trump rallied supporters Tuesday night in West Virginia to announce a massive rollback of Obama-era environmental regulations on coal-fired power plants and carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change. Trump's "Affordable Clean Energy" proposal would allow individual states to decide whether to curb emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency's own data shows the plan could cause up to 1,400 more premature deaths a year by 2030. The Washington Post reports the deregulation would also lead to the release of at least 12 times more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the next decade. The current head of the EPA, Andrew Wheeler, is a former coal industry lobbyist. We speak with Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign.