Two NFL teams crack down on take-a-knee protests after Trump flipped the script
EPA chief Pruitt announces end of Clean Power Plan
Scott Pruitt announced Monday that the Trump administration would roll back Obama era regulation on coal-fired power plants.
“I’m here to make an announcement that’s very, very important for you. Tomorrow, in Washington, D.C., I’ll be signing a proposed rule to withdraw the so-called Clean Power Plan of the past administration and thus begin the effort to withdraw that rule,” Mr. Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said at an event in Kentucky.
The Clean Power Plan aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, especially coal-burning plants, and increase renewable energy resources. States had to submit plans to the EPA on how they planned to reduce those emissions late last year. The regulation has been challenged in court on the constitutionality of the plan. In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia gave the EPA an additional 60 days to review the plan and submit their position to the court before settling on the legality of the rule.
“The president sent a message,” Mr. Pruitt said to much applause from the audience. “When you think about what that rule meant, that rule was really was picking winners and losers.”
Critics say repealing this regulation will make it impossible to meet the carbon standards propose in the Paris Climate Accord. Although President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement earlier this year, some states said they have opted to stay in the agreement.
Faced with a blitz of fan outrage, at least two NFL team owners have clamped down on players refusing to stand for the national anthem, saying the protests have become for many viewers a symbol of disrespect for the flag.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters Sunday that he would bench players who refuse to stand, arguing that the team cannot “give the implication that we tolerate disrespect to the flag. We cannot do that.”
“If there’s anything that is disrespectful to the flag, then we will not play,” Mr. Jones said. “Understand? We will not … if we are disrespecting the flag, then we will not play. Period.”
SEE ALSO: Stephen A. Smith warns NFL on national anthem protests: Trump is ‘winning’
Meanwhile, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who has applauded taking a knee against racial inequality, said at a pre-game tailgate event that President Trump has flipped the script on players refusing to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“It’s a different dialogue today,” Mr. Ross said in the Palm Beach Post. “Whenever you’re dealing with the flag, you’re dealing with something different. [Trump] has changed that whole paradigm of what protest is. I think it’s incumbent upon the players today, because of how the public is looking at it, is to stand and salute the flag.”
Dolphins coach Adam Gase said at a press briefing that players who object to standing may remain in the locker room or tunnel during the ceremony.
