Coal CEO expected Trump help, but administration said no

[herding cats]

Source: Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has rejected a coal industry push to win a rarely used emergency order protecting coal-fired power plants, a decision contrary to what one coal executive said the president personally promised him.

The Energy Department says it considered issuing the order sought by companies seeking relief for plants it says are overburdened by environmental regulations and market stresses. But the department ultimately ruled it was unnecessary, and the White House agreed, a spokeswoman said.

The decision is a rare example of friction between the beleaguered coal industry and the president who has vowed to save it. It also highlights a pattern emerging as the administration crafts policy: The president’s bold declarations — both public and private — are not always carried through to implementation.

President Donald Trump committed to the measure in private conversations with executives from Murray Energy Corp. and FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. after public events in July and early August, according to letters to the White House from Murray Energy and its chief executive, Robert Murray. In the letters, obtained by The Associated Press, Murray said failing to act would cause thousands of coal miners to be laid off and put the pensions of thousands more in jeopardy. One of Murray’s letters said Trump agreed and told Energy Secretary Rick Perry, “I want this done” in Murray’s presence.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/trump-rebuffs-coal-industry-ceo-claims-promise-broken/2017/08/22/17159934-8722-11e7-96a7-d178cf3524eb_story.html?utm_term=.4c5b50ca0c70

[Archae]

1. Another empty Trump promise...

"MAGA!"

"Drain The Swamp!"

"More Coal!"

"Get Us Out Of Afghanistan!"

Etc...

[nycbos]

2. To quote Nelson Muntz

[dalton99a]

3. A shocking development

[geomon666]

4. Take it away, DJ Khaled!

[Botany]

5. The electric power companies have spent billions switching from coal to gas @ their plants ....

.... and they are not switching back to coal. Trump and company have always known that
fact but still they lied to the miners and told them that they will be bringing "the coal jobs
back."

[Sunlei]

6. The Black Lung Republicans are disappointed.

[riversedge]

7. According to Murray--Trump promised to get it done, but seems his advisors held back. Kinda reminds

me of just last night---Rump repeatedly promising to get out of Afgan--then his Generals hold him back.

I do feel bad for the workers-and their families-the trump administration and the CEO's lead them on with empty promises time and time again.



.........The aid Murray sought from Trump involves invoking a little-known section of the U.S. Federal Power Act that allows the Energy Department to temporarily intervene when the nation’s electricity supply is threatened by an emergency, such as war or natural disaster. Among other measures, it temporarily exempts power plants from obeying environmental laws. In the past, the authority has been used sparingly, such as during the California energy crisis in 2000 and following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Obama administration never used it. The Trump administration has used it twice in seven months in narrow instances.

Murray’s company is seeking a two-year moratorium on closures of coal-fired power plants, which would be an unprecedented federal intervention in the nation’s energy markets. The company said invoking the provision under the Power Act was “the only viable mechanism” to protect the reliability of the nation’s power supply.

Murray told the White House that his key customer, Ohio-based electricity company FirstEnergy Solutions, was at immediate risk of bankruptcy. Without FirstEnergy’s plants burning his coal, Murray said his own company would be forced into “immediate bankruptcy,” triggering the layoffs of more than 6,500 miners. FirstEnergy acknowledged to the AP that bankruptcy of its power-generation business was a possibility.

Murray urged Trump to use the provision in the Federal Power Act to halt further coal plant closures by declaring an emergency in the electric power grid.

After a conversation with Trump at a July 25 political rally in Youngstown, Ohio, Murray wrote, the president told Perry three times, “I want this done.” Trump also directed the emergency order be given during an Aug. 3 conversation in Huntington, West Virginia, he said.....................................................

[mdbl]

8. I'll go for this if all repuglicans are forced to work in a coal mine for 2 years, or

live next to a river where they are dumping toxic waste from the mines for at least 5 years, or have to live within a mile of the smokestacks of the coal fired power plants. Once they do this, I'll listen to their bullshit about how wonderful coal is.