The Trump administration has announced it will repeal former President Barack Obama's signature policy for fighting climate change—winning praise from at least three business groups in the process.

The Clean Power Plan would have set new limits for greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. However, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Monday his agency would seek to repeal the rule, declaring at "the war against coal is over," the Washington Post reported.

The National Mining Association praised the announcement. In a statement, CEO Hal Quinn said the repeal "would close a chapter of regulatory overreach that set standards without regard to the steep costs or availability of technology necessary to meet them."

"The Clean Power Plan represented an unlawful attempt to transform the nation's power grid," Quinn said. "It would have destroyed additional baseload power assets, leaving our economy more vulnerable to reliability concerns and higher costs with trivial environmental benefits." http://bit.ly/2yE7QcA

NMA was one of the few Clean Power Plan critics among the business groups to issue an official statement concerning Pruitt's announcement. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association was one of many groups that challenges the Obama-era rule in court. While the association didn't release a statement, CEO Jim Matheson told the Post that the Trump administration's decision would provide his members the flexibility to provide affordable power to their customers.

"That's what we're really looking for, is flexibility so they can meet their individual consumers' needs," Matheson said.

The National Association of Manufacturers also challenged the rule in court. Ross Eisenberg, vice president of energy and resources policy at NAM, said in a statement his group is glad the current administration will seek to repeal the Clean Power Plan, but it still supports taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"The NAM supports a greenhouse gas policy going forward that is narrowly tailored and consistent with the Clean Air Act," he said. http://wapo.st/2ydVA1e

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