U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt says the administration of President Donald Trump will withdraw from Clean Power Plan set in motion by his predecessor Barack Obama.
Addressing a crowd in Kentucky Monday, Pruitt said that he plans to sign a proposed rule Tuesday to withdraw from the plan, which was aimed at slowing global warming.
"That rule really was about picking winners and losers," Pruitt said, claiming that the previous administration had used regulators to tip the scales in the competition to generate electricity in the United States.
"Regulatory power should not be used by any regulatory body to pick winners and losers," he said.
A centerpiece of the Obama administration's environmental policies, the clean power plan aimed to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration pulled the United States out of the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Accord, saying it was unfair to the American people. While hailed by some Republican lawmakers, the decision was met with criticism by scientists and international leaders.
