President Donald Trump vowed to wipe away outrageous Obama-era environmental regulations that were killing the American economy and siphoning off American jobs, and we’re finally one step closer to seeing this promise kept.
When Obama’s liberal courts try to make the Trump Administration enforce these job-killing stipulations, they thumbed their nose right back and erased them.
As a private billionaire businessman, Trump understood the detrimental effect these to-heck-with-working-Americans regulations had on everyday people. In what is becoming classic Trumpian style, he tapped one of the EPA’s staunchest adversaries to run the Deep State bureaucracy. Enter Scott Pruitt — the urge to laugh need not be suppressed.
As Oklahoma’s attorney general, Scott Pruitt did, in fact, file a lawsuit against the Obama EPA due to over-regulation of industry emissions. As the leader of the nation’s top environmental wing, he now refuses to enforce the edicts former President Obama unilaterally put in place. So, when a bunch of liberal judges told him he had to enforce problem regulations such as the Methane Rule, he made the move to scrap them entirely.
Liberal Judges Try to Impose Their Will
Following the lead of Obama-nominated judges attempting to “resist” President Trump on issues such as the travel ban, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against Pruitt’s suspension of the so-called Methane Rule. The regulation was designed to restrict methane emission from oil and gas on federal lands.
On the surface, that sounds conscientious. But the Obama rule is much more sinister. It puts such an economic burden on companies that they simply can’t turn a profit. That, in effect, cuts off American jobs. The panel of judges ruled 2-1 against Pruitt pausing the rule until concrete scientific data had been collected. They were forcing him to enforce the regulation on the books regardless of the fact it wasn’t a law nor based on objective findings. That ruling was upheld in on July 31 in a 9-2 decision. Only the two judges appointed by former President George W. Bush supported the pause.
While liberals hailed the ruling as a major win for nations such as China and India that would not have to compete on a level playing field with Americans, their cheers have once again been stifled. Pruitt and the Trump Administration have wielded the power of the eraser in this case.
What Are the Job-Killing Regulations?
Pres. Trump definitely had a specific list of regulations to nix to regrow jobs. Each Obama-era regulation was crafted to effectively stifle industry or stop it altogether. Here are some in Trump’s crosshairs.
• The Methane Rule (s): In 2016, Obama’s EPA implemented a rule for new facilities to monitor and prevent methane leaks. The rule was unnecessary because companies seek to capture this gas for profit. The burden of monitoring, reporting, administration and inspections placed a high dollar burden on the companies. The EPA also created a regulation to deal with 700,000 existing facilities. It has been one of the costliest moves against private industry.
• The Clean Power Plan: This was a primary piece of Obama’s climate change initiatives, and tied directly into the Paris Accord. The proposal called for the United States to cut carbon emission by 32 percent, and states would be responsible for implementing a plan to meet those numbers. It met legal challenges, and the ex-president was unable to sign off before leaving office. Part of the plan would have meant switching to a new type of power grid and cost taxpayers approximately $51 billion while also crushing approximately 225,000 American jobs. Talk about a lose-lose. The EPA has announced that will never happen.
• Coal Ash Regulations: In 2015, Obama continued his War on Coal by unilaterally enacted regulations that made disposal of coal ash extremely expensive. Many regarded this as one of the Obama Administration’s greatest regulatory overreaches. Last month, the new EPA opened the door for states to present flexible and practical plans to properly dispose of coal in a cost-effective fashion.
What Happens Now?
Much like the judicial “resistance” trend that Liberals judges lost in the travel ban case, they have again lost. The administration has employed the same type of tools to undo what many called “Executive Overreach.”
Going forward, Americans can expect a series of ineffective lawsuits and ridiculous Fake News media claims. In reality, the Pruitt-led EPA will likely have to begin the process of creating new regulations. That means hearings, studies and general foot-dragging.
The most secure route would be to get business-friendly regulations passed into law. But, for now, Team Trump has again scored a victory for American workers.
~ Conservative Zone
