The Trump administration’s latest Obama-era rollback is a repeal of the Clean Power Plan, which would have pushed for states to scale back from coal power and move toward sources that produce fewer carbon emissions. We asked people on campus the following question: “Do you believe the U.S. government should be allowed to force states to form plans to reduce carbon emissions?”
“Yes, because as the U.S., we’re adding to the pollution, so I think that we should have a controlled environment so that everyone who is responsible for it cleans up their own stuff.”
“I don’t know a whole bunch about policy and policy change, but I feel like more should obviously be done to protect the environment and emissions are bad.”
“They should be in charge of themselves. We don’t have to have a national plan. Every state has a different number of people, different surroundings. Every state should be able to plan it on its own, based on how people there feel.”
“Yes, I’d say personally I agree with that … What we do impacts every other nation, and vice versa … It is imperative that we ensure our planet can survive for a future for our children …. Also, if you look at jobs, that’s where it’s going. Coal and oil are dwindling … So if anything, it’s economically smart.”
“Yes, because otherwise, our environment is going to decay or deplete and then we’re not going to have resources we need to live on anymore.”
