1st Writethru: U.S. President Trump to eliminate Climate Action Plan: White House website

Shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn into office Friday, the newly updated White House website said the new administration will eliminate the Climate Action Plan, the centerpiece of former President Barack Obama's climate legacy.

"For too long, we've been held back by burdensome regulations on our energy industry," the website said in a page titled "An America First Energy Plan." "President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule."

It claimed that lifting these restrictions will "greatly help American workers, increasing wages by more than 30 billion U.S. dollars over the next seven years."

The rest of the webpage did not mention climate change any more.

Trump has called climate change a "hoax" and has threatened to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement that took effect last year.

Trump's energy plan said that the U.S. has "vast untapped domestic energy reserves" valued at 50 trillion dollars in total, and that the country "must take advantage of "the revenues from energy production to rebuild our roads, schools, bridges and public infrastructure."

The plan also vowed to revive America's coal industry.

In addition, the Trump administration pledged to work with the country's Gulf allies to develop "a positive energy relationship" as part of its anti-terrorism strategy, it said.

Trump's plan was criticized by environmental groups.

"It's all a big handout to the oil, gas, and coal companies. Trump has given a front-row seat at the table of American government," Rhea Suh, President of the U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-profit environmental organization, said in a statement. "We will fight this handout, tooth, nail, and hair." Enditem