Trump orders Perry to "prepare immediate steps" to keep coal, nuclear plants online

[Rhiannon12866]

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump ordered Energy Secretary Rick Perry to "prepare immediate steps" to protect the nation's ailing coal and nuclear power sector, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday.

The statement comes as the White House is weighing an unprecedented use of national security powers to bail out industries they say are critical to keeping the nation's power grid operating. A memo this week from the Department of Energy calls for the administration to order power grid operators to buy electricity from a list of struggling coal and nuclear plants for two years "to forestall any further action towards retirement, decommissioning, or deactivation of such facilities."

"Too many of these fuel secure [coal and nuclear] plants have retired prematurely," it reads. "Although the lost megawatts of power are often replaced by new generation from natural gas and renewable energy sources, this transition comes at the expense of fuel security and resilience."

Media: Euronews
Whether the White House will go ahead with the plan laid out in the memo, which was first reported by Bloomberg News late Thursday, remains to be seen. In the statement Friday, Sanders said Trump "looks forward to receiving [Perry's] recommendations."

"Keeping America's energy grid and infrastructure strong and secure protects our national security, public safety, and economy from intentional attacks and natural disasters," the statement read.

The move drew quick condemnation from across the U.S. economy. In recent months a coalition that includes everyone from oil and gas companies to solar developers, environmentalists to major corporations like General Electric and Apple has fought back any move to bail out the coal and nuclear sectors as likely to raise electricity rates.


More: https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Energy-Dept-memo-lays-out-plan-to-keep-coal-12960174.php



Reactive domes of the South Texas Project nuclear power plant sit under an overcast sky on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Photo: San Antonio Express-News

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Coal lobby fights black-lung tax as disease rates surge

PRINCETON, West Virginia (Reuters) - As a young man, Barry Shrewsbury dug coal in the West Virginia mines and spent his time off hunting and fishing in the rolling hills.

Now, at 62, he struggles to breathe and accomplish basic tasks such as shopping and showering, and relies on a federal fund for ex-miners with black lung disease to pay for an oxygen tank and doctor visits.

“The benefits are a lifeline,” Shrewsbury said between labored breaths after a treatment at the Bluestone Health Center, an industrial-style building set against a leafy landscape in Princeton, West Virginia.

That lifeline is threatened. The Black Lung Disability Trust Fund is at risk of insolvency due to soaring debt and a slashing of coal-company contributions through a tax cut scheduled for the end of the year, according to a report the U.S. Government Accountability Office plans to publish soon, two sources briefed on the study told Reuters.

That shortfall - which comes as black lung rates hit highs not seen in decades - could force the fund to restrict benefits or shift some of the financial burden to taxpayers, the sources said on condition of anonymity. The fund currently provides medical coverage and monthly payments for living expenses to more than 15,000 people, according to a Congressional report published this year.


More: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-coal-blacklung-insight/coal-lobby-fights-black-lung-tax-as-disease-rates-surge-idUSKCN1IX4EG

[Cosmocat]

2. Jackass trying to turn the US

Into the USSR.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. And drag us back a couple of centuries...

[Freethinker65]

4. Fuel security? Show us the documentation study to back this up

Or better yet, just follow the money to made

[BlueJac]

5. cooking by camp fires will be next!