Sean Spicer: Coal will be one of the cleanest uses of technology that we have

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White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that the US would produce "clean coal" and that rolling back regulations from coal plants would be done in a way that was "environmentally friendly".

He told reporters that the Environmental Protection Agency, which will be led by Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt who once sued the same agency, will liberate coal plants so that they can stay open and keep existing jobs.

When asked by a local news reporter in Virginia about residents’ concerns about the impact to the environment, he replied: "I think when you hear him talking about coal specifically, it’s under the guise of clean coal, and I think the technology we’re able to utilise these days make it one of the cleanest uses of technology that we have."

He added: "And the President’s point, is that as we bring back this industry is that we can do it in a way that is environmentally friendly and it becomes a great and greater energy source."

He pointed to figures from the Department of Energy that projected a 3 per cent increase in the production of coal which was a "big reduction" compared to the past. More than two thirds of US energy production is from fossil fuels.

He blamed regulations placed on coal plants by the EPA, which prevent them from "staying open".

"And I think you can do that [roll back regulations and make it environmentally friendly] if you harness technology we have and harness the power of clean coal."

President Trump said in 2013 that climate change was a "hoax invented by the Chinese".

He told the New York Times last year that he believed there was "some connectivity" between climate change and humans.

His stance to reduce regulations in the energy industry - including shale gas, oil and coal - in the name of providing employment has done little to reassure climate change campaigners, however.

The President has also signed an executive order with the intention to get the Dakota oil pipeline built, a oil and gas pipe which cuts through several states and the Missouri river, threatening the water supply of the largest Native American tribe in the country.

Mr Pruitt, who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate to head the EPA, once sued the agency on behalf of his energy industry clients. He is also reportedly a climate change sceptic.