Cleaning up Trump's mess

The Biden administration on Thursday moved to repeal a Trump-era regulation that it said weakened the government’s ability to curb air pollution that threatens public health and is driving climate change.

Critics said the regulation distorted the costs of reducing air pollution while diminishing the associated benefits. It is one of several Trump administration policies that have been reversed by Michael S. Regan since he became the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in March.

[...]

Experts said that [a Trump-era cost-benefit] requirement appeared designed to give industries a way to legally block the E.P.A. over future air pollution rules. It would have also allowed the E.P.A. to avoid putting a price tag on certain health benefits if the scientific evidence was deemed limited.

[...]

The policy had been long sought by the fossil fuel industry, which argued for years that the federal government used unfair economic formulas that resulted in burdensome pollution regulations.

When Andrew Wheeler, Mr. Trump’s second E.P.A. administrator, finalized the policy last year, he said it would promote transparency. But he also acknowledged it was aimed at preventing future administrations from imposing restrictions on toxic mercury pollution from power plants, as the Obama administration did.

[...]

John Walke, clean air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, noted that the Trump administration did not even apply the restrictions to its own policies. “Americans can now expect stronger clean air and climate safeguards without unnecessary bureaucratic delays,” he said.

  NYT

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.