Policy Administrator Pruitt Appoints Himself Judge, Jury and Executioner of the Clean Power Plan

The Clean Air Task Force criticizes EPA Administrator Pruitt for attempting to repeal the Clean Power Plan by asserting that the EPA only has authority to mandate 'inside the fence' measures at individual plants. The authors argue that Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act allows for a 'best system of emission reduction' that includes shifting to cleaner energy sources, noting that compliance costs for CO2 reduction dropped from $26/ton at the plan's finalization to $17/ton by January 2017. The document contends that Pruitt is prioritizing the coal industry over public health and has inappropriately requested that the D.C. Circuit Court delay its decision on the plan's legality.

• EPA Administrator Pruitt argues that the EPA lacks the authority to implement system-wide carbon emission reductions, claiming that greenhouse gas targets must be limited to measures applied at individual plants, described as "inside the fence."
• The authors contend that Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act does not limit the "system" of emission reduction to "inside the fence" measures and that the "best" system should include current industry trends such as increased reliance on cleaner energy sources and end-use energy efficiency.
• Compliance costs for CO2 reduction under the Clean Power Plan were estimated at $26/ton when finalized, but updated figures from January 2017 showed costs had decreased to $17/ton.

APA

Weeks, A., Schneider, C., & Duffy, J. (2017). Policy Administrator Pruitt Appoints Himself Judge, Jury and Executioner of the Clean Power Plan. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2017/10/administrator-pruitt-appoints-himself/

Chicago

Weeks, Ann, Conrad Schneider, and Jay Duffy. Policy Administrator Pruitt Appoints Himself Judge, Jury and Executioner of the Clean Power Plan. Clean Air Task Force, 2017. https://www.catf.us/2017/10/administrator-pruitt-appoints-himself/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Weeks |first1=Ann |last2=Schneider |first2=Conrad |last3=Duffy |first3=Jay |title=Policy Administrator Pruitt Appoints Himself Judge, Jury and Executioner of the Clean Power Plan |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=13 October 2017 |url=https://www.catf.us/2017/10/administrator-pruitt-appoints-himself/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{weeks2017policy, author = {Weeks, Ann and Schneider, Conrad and Duffy, Jay}, title = {{Policy Administrator Pruitt Appoints Himself Judge, Jury and Executioner of the Clean Power Plan}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://www.catf.us/2017/10/administrator-pruitt-appoints-himself/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }