Key Obama Climate Orders Still On the Books
E&E News cited Myron Ebell on the inefficiencies of the Trump administration in rescinding executive orders dating from the Obama administration which hold strong implications for climate change owing to long times needed in overturning executive orders alongside an instability within the White House itself hampering the litigative abilities of the current administration.
At least 10 executive orders with strong implications for climate change are still on the books, and they carry the force of law until they’re rescinded by a president through another executive order. The untouched documents promote policies like boosting energy efficiency, responding to ocean acidification and studying how climate change affects the Chesapeake Bay.
It’s unclear whether Trump plans to leave them on the books or just hasn’t gotten around to axing them yet.
But the fact that climate orders from the Obama presidency are still active has rankled some, like Myron Ebell of the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute. “Perhaps they haven’t been as systematic as some of us would like them to be,” Ebell said of the Trump White House.
Ebell suggested two possible reasons Trump hasn’t rescinded some of the orders: time and chaos. “It does take a while to work through your list of things to do,” he said, adding, “The White House is not terribly well-organized.” He added, “A lot of government is paying attention to the details, and the White House isn’t really organized to do that well.”