Executive Orders that would dismantle energy regulations through the EPA’s Clean Power Plan are expected in the coming days. For the area’s coal communities, the hope is that President Trump will follow through on lifting the moratorium on new coal leases as well as reverse increased regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from coal fired power plants. Another Executive Order is expected that would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA to rewrite the Waters of the U.S. rule which will prove beneficial to the energy industry as well as to rural farmers and ranchers. Local government and agriculture leaders have pushed back on the Waters of the U.S. rule and its implications since its inception.
