Politics

Trump’s Best Shot at Saving Coal Is an Obscure Power Market

FERC draws new battle lines in the U.S. electricity wars.

Donald Trump models a hard hat in support of miners during a rally at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.Photographer: Mark Lyons

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By Chris Martin

March 3, 2020 at 12:30 PM UTC

Updated on

March 3, 2020 at 6:43 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

In the past three months, regulators appointed by President Donald Trump have disrupted ambitious plans to combat climate change in electric grids serving 85 million people in the U.S., from Chicago to New York to Washington.

It was easy: an agency just rewrote some obscure pricing rules.