Delaware may have lost again with Trump's energy order

Over the past decade, Delaware's power generators shifted energy production from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas, spent millions of dollars to upgrade existing facilities and shut down the biggest polluting smoke stacks – all to meet air-quality guidelines and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

But under a new Trump administration executive order, which the president says will make the country energy independent, states that didn't push for the same upgrades may not need to work toward a similar, pollution reduction goal.

It's a battle Delaware environmental regulators have been pushing over the last year – to get neighboring states that have large, coal-fired power plants to meet the same air-quality standards that Delaware must. Much of the state's problem with ozone pollution, for instance, comes from large power plants and crowded highways beyond the state borders.

Delaware, on the losing end of the battle for years, may have lost another round.

The president on Tuesday ordered a review of the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.

The plan, adopted in 2015, but on hold because of a court challenge by 27 states, resulted from a 2009 Environmental Protection Agency finding that greenhouse gas pollution threatens public health and leads to changes in the climate.

RELATED: Here are 10 Obama environmental policies Trump wants to scrap

Delaware, the lowest-lying state in the nation, is especially vulnerable to rising sea level, which is expected to hasten as the planet warms.

"It’s a bad idea to abandon any tools that help us combat the real effects of climate change," said Gov. John Carney, in an email Tuesday afternoon. "Delaware is already experiencing sea level rise twice as fast as the global average. More than 17,000 homes in Delaware are at risk of permanent inundation, and many more experience costly flooding. In addition to sea level rise, increased high heat days and changing precipitation patterns threaten Delaware’s essential $8 billion agricultural industry, and pose critical health threats. The safety and health of Delawareans, our economy, and our natural resources are dependent not only on our actions as a state, but on a shared, urgent commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

The plan required a 32-percent reduction by 2030 in carbon dioxide emissions below the levels recorded in 2005. Reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides also were required.

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The president's order rescinds multiple Obama administration executive orders and related documents that focused on preparing for the impacts of climate change.

It also takes aim at several Obama administration energy policies and requires federal agencies to review actions that may burden the "safe and efficient" development of domestic energy. And it requires the secretary of the Interior to amend or withdraw the current moratorium on coal leases on federal lands.

The Caesar Rodney Institute, a conservative think tank in Delaware, has long argued that the Clean Power Plan was bad for Delaware.

In a policy paper last year, the institute wrote that "residential electric bills will increase almost $270 a year, and some large industrial customers will see an increase of over $3 million a year if a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency to limit carbon dioxide emissions is adopted. The EPA envisions a $25 per ton carbon tax will be adopted by every state. The EPA provided a preliminary analysis of the impact of its Clean Power Plan for existing power plants on Delaware power generation and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) by 2030 compared to 2012."

RELATED: Energy independence, not climate change, becomes priority under Trump order

But Delaware Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons, both Democrats, said the order raised concerns.

“I am deeply concerned by this latest action by the Trump administration to reverse our efforts to protect our national security, our environment, and our economy by working to address and reverse the impacts of climate change," Coons said. "The United States has long been a global leader in the effort to fight climate change, and U.S. leadership made it possible to bring 195 countries, including China, together on an international climate agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2015. While the White House has not signaled whether it intends for the U.S. to remain in the Paris Agreement, the Trump administration’s actions today are yet another step backwards undermining our commitments to address climate change and embrace a clean energy future."

Carper said walking away from the Clean Power Plan and other climate initiatives "is not just irresponsible – it’s irrational. Today’s executive order calls into question America’s credibility and our commitment to tackling the greatest environmental challenge of our lifetime. … This order clearly proves that this administration is not serious about protecting jobs and our environment. As a West Virginia native, I understand the plight of coal miners in today’s day and age. But the Clean Power Plan isn’t the coal industry’s problem – market forces are. Let’s be perfectly clear: this executive order will not bring back the coal industry. It is an insult to the men and women who voted for him for Donald Trump to say otherwise."

Contact Molly Murray at (302) 463-3334 or mmurray@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @MollyMurraytnj.