WINCHESTER, Ky. (AP) - President Donald Trump's top environmental official has headed to Kentucky to tout a new plan aimed at aiding the coal industry.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader , acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler visited the Clark Energy Cooperative headquarters Friday in Winchester.
The proposal aims to replace ex-President Barack Obama's signature effort to slow global warming by limiting emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Trump's plan broadly increases authority for states to decide how to regulate coal plants.
Wheeler said carbon emissions would continue decreasing under Trump's plan, albeit, not as quickly as under Obama's. He said Obama's plan put coal plants at a disadvantage.
The Trump administration has acknowledged that the increased emissions from aging coal plants could kill hundreds more people annually and cost the U.S. billions of dollars.
