Trump Administration Moves to End Pollution Reporting Rule for Big Polluters as Key Climate Provision Faces Rollback

The Trump administration on Friday announced a proposal to roll back the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, a US federal rule that requires coal plants, refineries, and industrial facilities across the country to publicly report how much planet-warming pollution they emit each year, according to a report published by CNN.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – under administrator Lee Zeldin – is reportedly pushing to eliminate key provisions of the program, which has been in place since 2010 and covers more than 8,000 American facilities across the country.

Zeldin Calls Reporting Rule “Red Tape”

Defending the proposal as part of the administration’s deregulatory agenda, Zeldin reportedly said, “The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality.”

“Instead, it costs American businesses and manufacturing billions of dollars, driving up the cost of living, jeopardising our nation’s prosperity and hurting American communities,” CNN quoted Zeldin as saying further.

According to the EPA, a legal review found that the Clean Air Act does not mandate emissions reporting from many fossil fuel producers or industrial sectors. The federal agency has now said that only some oil and gas facilities, like natural gas pipelines, will still be required to report certain emissions, but not until 2034.

Environmental Groups Slam the Move

Meanwhile, environmental advocates have warned that the rollback would remove transparency from polluting industries.

“Big polluters may want to keep their climate pollution secret, but more than 15 years ago Congress ordered EPA to collect and publish this data each year,” David Doniger, senior strategist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), told CNN, while adding, “This proposal gives polluters the secrecy they want in violation of the law.”

The GHG Reporting Program, the report said, has been an essential tool for scientists, local communities, and even international bodies like the United Nations, helping track emissions as part of the US obligations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

ALSO READ: Trump Says He Will Send National Guard to Memphis – Here’s What’s Happening