Trump order on Obama’s climate rule ‘unlikely’ this week

President Trump’s executive order to begin repealing former President Barack Obama’s main climate change rule is “unlikely” to be signed this week, according to a White House official.

The official told Greenwire that the order, which had been expected this week, now “may be pushed to next week.” The official did not provide further details or timing information, according to the report.

The order is expected to instruct Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to start the process of repealing the Clean Power Plan, fulfilling a key campaign promise Trump made.

{mosads}That Obama-administration rule ordered a 32 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, through individual cuts assigned to states. It has been on hold for more than a year, thanks to a Supreme Court stay.

Trump’s order is also expected to instruct Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to undo the Obama administration’s moratorium on new coal mining leases on federal land.

That moratorium was put in place early last year to allow the Interior Department to evaluate the coal program and see if it needed to charge higher prices to account for the climate change caused by the coal.