Odds are that President Trump’s Executive Order calling for “review” of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and designation of national monuments are just the start of his administration’s efforts to eviscerate federal regulations that protect the environment. The potential dismantling of federal environmental protections presents an opportunity for states and local governments to back-fill holes in federal regulation. Legal precedent is on their side.
Aided by a pro-oil, -gas, and -coal Congress, the administration has made no secret of its intent to roll back and defund long-standing federal regulations such as the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. Trump’s appointments of Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency and Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior underscore the point.
