'The fight for clean air and a healthy planet has just begun': Environmental groups slam Trump's latest executive order

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March 29, 2017 8:09 PM

President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to dismantle Obama's Clean Power Plan, to the dismay of environmental leaders across the country.

President Donald Trump, accompanied by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt, third from left, and Vice President Mike Pence, right, signs an Energy Independence Executive Order, Tuesday, March 28, 2017, at EPA headquarters in Washington.

On Tuesday, President Trump signed a sweeping executive order designed to repeal the Clean Power Plan, a climate bill created by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama Administration.

The bill, designed to limit carbon emissions, was one of former President Obama's signature achievements on the environment, though it has been blamed by some for job losses in the coal industry.

Business Insider reached out to a number of environmental organizations who panned Trump's executive order and spoke about what they allege as the disastrous ramifications of bolstering the fossil fuel industry.

"Trump's latest effort to roll back rules that cut climate pollution is just another demonstration of how isolated and out of touch he is," Kathryn Phillips, the Director of the California Sierra Club, told Business Insider in an email.

Phillips said that, according to energy experts, coal is no longer economical because renewable energy costs — like solar and wind — are dropping so fast that investors are moving away from carbon-based fuel sources.

Plus, "polling shows that the majority of the public believe that climate change is a problem that needs to be addressed," Phillips added.

John Coequyt, the climate policy director for the Sierra Club, echoed Phillips' concerns.

"It's incredibly disappointing to see this done by someone who very obviously hasn’t spent any time seriously thinking about the serious implications of climate change,"

"We don’t believe that the Clean Power Plan was responsible for the changes that are taking place in the power sector, and repealing it won’t change that," Coequyt added.

Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club, sent a series of tweets Tuesday in response to the executive order. He was not available for comment when Business Insider contacted him.

This post has been updated.

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