The move will undo the Clean Power Plan which required states to slash carbon emissions.

The executive order also cuts the Environmental Protection Agency's budget. Regulations on oil, gas and coal production are to be reviewed.

Trump has promised to remove green rules which he says hurt the economy. 

During the campaign, he vowed to pull the US out of the Paris climate deal agreed in December 2015.

The White House said the new measures would "help keep energy and electricity affordable, reliable and clean in order to boost economic growth and job creation".