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Congress’s Kill Switch

May 17, 2017 Judged by the reviews from the toughest critics, Washington has a new hit on its hands. “Historic” says The New York Times. “Ambitious” says The Washington Post. “A once-in-a-generation opportunity,” says Politico. They’re describing the Congressional Review Act’s (CRA) impact on regulations. When President Obama said he had a pen and threatened to use it, […]

VP Mike Pence says ‘War on Coal’ is Over During Visit to Crow Coal Mine

Via The Billings Gazette: United States Vice President Mike Pence declared “the war on coal” over Friday after touring a Crow Indian coal mine on horseback and meeting with stakeholders. “I just want to assure you that this administration is absolutely determined to continue to expand the opportunities to develop American energy in an environmentally […]

Energy Department is Right to Study Impact of U.S. Power Grid Regulations

Via The Spectrum: Energy Secretary Rick Perry hit a raw nerve in Washington recently when he announced his department will undertake a study of the possible impact that federal regulations have had on U.S. electric grid reliability. Essentially, the Department of Energy will look at “critical issues central to protecting the long-term reliability of the […]

The “Good” Steroids

May 10, 2017 The International Olympic Committee is reviewing the legitimacy of literally hundreds of medals awarded to athletes who are suspected of having used banned substances. When the medalists are drugged, the game is rigged and the competition doomed.So, keep this in mind when you read about the growth in wind (5.6 percent of […]

Another Victory: Court Ruling Provides Hope for Coalfields

Via The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: A federal appeals court delayed action last week on the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, giving the Trump administration time to revise and potentially repeal the job-killing anti-coal policy. The decision is another victory for the coalfields of southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia. West Virginia, and a coalition of other states, filed […]

Mr. Bloomberg’s Coal Con

Via The Washington Post: Michael Bloomberg urged the Trump administration to “quit conning coal communities” in his May 3 Washington Forum commentary [“Quit conning coal communities”] , but he failed to follow his own advice. He cited market competition for the decline in coal industry jobs but conveniently omitted the regulatory onslaught that has forced […]

Trump’s EPA: Coal Is A ‘Safeguard’ Against Attacks On Electric Grid

Via The Daily Caller: EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said Wednesday that removing coal production from the U.S. grid would make the country more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. “What would happen if we had an attack on our infrastructure when you’ve diverted to natural gas almost exclusively and you don’t have coal there as a safeguard […]

EPA Chief: US Needs Coal to Protect Electric Grid

Via The Hill: The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) argued Wednesday that using coal for electricity is necessary for the reliability of the electric grid. Speaking on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.,” Scott Pruitt warned of the problems of relying too heavily on natural gas, which has increased in use over the last […]

Scary Perry

May 3, 2017 Energy Secretary Perry, usually affable and agreeable, hit a raw nerve last week with his announcement of a report. Not the findings of the report. No. Just the fact that his department would undertake a study of the possible impact that regulations have had on grid reliability. The flustered response to this […]