This morning, President Trump signed an executive order that he created to place value on American jobs over climate change, but rollbacks to the Obama administration regulations on truck emissions and fuel efficiency were not part of the order.
After Trump’s highly publicized meeting with ATA members last week, many hoped to see signs that the president has taken trucking’s interests to heart in the coming days and weeks. Today’s executive order instead reinforced Trump’s campaign vows to bring jobs back for coal miners. In fact, there were coal miners present at the signing of the executive order. Trump told the coal miners as he signed the order, “You’re going back to work.”
The executive order was an attack by the Trump administration on Obama’s Clean Power Plan, designed to cut emissions from coal and gas power plants. Trump ordered the EPA to review and reverse the Clean Power Plan, which has already been halted temporarily by a Supreme Court order.
Legal experts say that realistically it could take years to accomplish this.
Trump’s order also asks the EPA to review and challenge Obama-era fuel economy standards for passenger trucks and cars, but makes no mention of the fuel economy and emissions regulations put on commercial vehicles under Obama.