Trump Signs Executive Order To Reverse Obama-era Climate Change Regulations

President Trump signed an executive order today meant to reverse many of President Obama's climate change regulations.

Trump says the EO will move the U.S. towards energy independence, while environmentalists say the action will do serious damage to ecological interests.

Via Reuters:

The decree, dubbed the "Energy Independence" order, will seek to undo former President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan requiring states to slash carbon emissions from power plants - a critical element in helping the United States meet its commitments to a global climate change accord agreed by nearly 200 countries in Paris in December 2015.

It will also rescind a ban on coal leasing on federal lands, reverse rules to curb methane emissions from oil and gas production, and reduce the weight of climate change in federal agencies' assessments of new regulations.

"We're going to go in a different direction," a senior White House official told reporters ahead of Tuesday's order. "The previous administration devalued workers with their policies. We can protect the environment while providing people with work."

"I cannot tell you how many jobs the executive order is going to create but I can tell you that it provides confidence in this administration’s commitment to the coal industry," said Kentucky Coal Association president Tyler White.

So, when Trump claims this EO will create jobs, no one actually knows if that's true?

And while we're talking "energy independence," why doesn't Trump ever mention solar or wind?

During the 2016 campaign, Trump made clear he doesn't believe in "global warming:"

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012