In 2015, the Obama administration introduced the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector in 2030 by 32%, compared to 2005 levels. Although the EPA's Clean Power Plan is currently held up in the US Federal Courts it has yet to come into force. Throughout the Presidential race, Donald Trump stated he would rescind the EPA's Clean Power Plan.
Trump tapped prominent climate skeptic Myron Ebell to lead the transition team at the EPA. Ebell currently directs the environmental and energy policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian advocacy group that questions global warming. Whilst Ebell is leading the transition team, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt will lead the EPA in Trump's administration. Pruitt has previously fought against President Barack Obama's environmental rules and has questioned the scientific consensus on the link between human activity and climate change.
With the stakes of climate change so high, and the USA being the second biggest polluter of carbon dioxide, rescinding the Clean Power Plan would pose a significant threat to the planet.