Pray for Americans in depressed areas of the country, for jobs and renewed hope. Pray also for the Trump Administration and Congress to make wise decisions about tax dollars.

Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance . . . (Pr 1:5)

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Following through on one of President Trump’s campaign vows to coal country, the Environmental Protection Agency [last] Tuesday moved to formally kill the Clean Power Plan, beginning a lengthy process to dismantle the key Obama-era climate regulation.

The long-awaited announcement by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will kick-start repeal proceedings on the rule, which limits carbon emissions from power plants and was explicitly designed to reduce the amount of coal burned across the country. Mr. Pruitt’s central argument — that the plan is an abuse of federal power and has no basis in law — will be challenged in court, with environmental groups and Democrats quickly vowing to fight any move to repeal the CPP.

But the EPA chief says he’s on solid legal footing, and that repeal will save as much as $33 billion over the next 13 years….

“The rule has been especially devastating to coal country,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said in a statement. “Congress will continue to work with the Trump administration to promote an energy strategy that gets government out of the business of picking winners and losers and instead encourages all types of energy sources.”

In explaining the rationale behind repeal, the EPA said the CPP is inconsistent with the federal Clean Air Act. Mr. Pruitt argues that the proposal forced the federal government to go far beyond simply requiring emissions controls at individual sources of pollution — like power plants — and instead sought to transform the entire U.S. electricity generation system through regulation, a concept referred to as acting “outside the fence line” of the actual sources of pollution….

Specialists say the overhaul of cost-benefit calculations is especially noteworthy moving forward. The new formula allows the administration to consider the harm of climate change domestically but throws out supposed worldwide benefits of addressing pollution at home.

“The government’s new method of accounting for climate harm is very important because in several cases this year — cases concerning gas pipelines and coal mines — federal courts have asked the Trump administration to calculate the harms from climate change. The Clean Power Plan shows how the Trump administration may calculate these harms going forward,” said James Coleman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University….

“Today’s proposal to revoke the Clean Power Plan is inconsistent with EPA’s core mission of protecting public health and the environment … The health impacts of climate change demand immediate action,” reads a statement from the American Lung Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and more than a dozen other health and medical groups. “Failing to address this public health crisis will have lasting consequences. The longer our nation’s leaders postpone action to clean up carbon pollution and other greenhouse gases, the more severe the health costs will be.” (Excerpted from The Washington Times  , reporting by Ben Wolfgang.)