Virginia Interfaith Power & Light: Clean Power Plan repeal unacceptable

Virginia Interfaith Power & Light comments in response to the Trump administration’s withdrawal of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan.

“The Trump administration’s proposal to repeal the Clean Power Plan abdicates our country’s moral responsibility to act to protect the most vulnerable among us. This action will cause additional needless suffering not only for those living in the United States, but across the globe as extreme weather grows increasingly deadly.

“It is critical that we recognize the effects of carbon pollution. In a moment when communities are still reeling from the impacts of hurricanes strengthened by climate change and as people of faith who are called to stand with “the least of these,” the Trump administration efforts to dismantle our first and only federal common sense limit on carbon pollution from existing power plants are unacceptable.

“Unlike the Trump administration’s EPA, it is our moral obligation to speak up and act on issues that directly endanger Virginians’ health and safety. We call for a democratization of our energy system and economic transition assistance for our coal miners in the Southwest as we transition to a just and renewable energy economy. We invite you to join us as we explore the interactions of faith, politics and environmental racism and more importantly highlight solutions for the 21st century on October 21 at Virginia Union University Coburn Hall. Now is the time for solutions, not polluter giveaways.”