A federal appeals court in August ruled that the coal ash rule put in place by President Barack Obama’s EPA in 2015 -- and weakened by the Trump administration a month earlier -- wasn’t strong enough. The court rebuked the EPA for failing to require the closing of unlined coal ash disposal sites and exempting legacy landfills at shuttered power plants from the mandates.
The rules put in place under Obama were too weak, and nobody's surprised that they've become even weaker under Trump. The result for the environment and locals affected when things go wrong is the same.
If I remember correctly, this was the legislation that was never enacted. Obama et al had worked to put it together but was never enacted and if left alone still would only have come into effect too late to have made any difference in this instance.
So while maybe I should have said my first comment more clearly, it is still true that it was like this before Trump was elected and this would have still happened because there wouldn't have been enough time for it to make any difference.
it is still true that it was like this before Trump was elected and this would have still happened because there wouldn't have been enough time for it to make any difference.
I thought I basically agreed with this in the last comment. Yes, if Obama was somehow still in and no legislation was changed the spills would still have happened. In an ideal world Trump would have strengthened the legislation in time to actually prevent the spills. In the world we have, Obama failed to enact strong enough legislation, and Trump has weakened rather than strengthened that legislation, so we have more toxic spills to look forward to in the future.
That is basically the story of the title: Toxic spills highlight Trump's deregulation of coal plant waste
Let me guess, they're going to talk about the NC plant and the flooding.
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Yup. This has nothing to do with Trump. It was like this long before Trump came into office.