Trump Extension of Old Coal Plant Stirs Debate Over ‘Emergency’ Move
Steam billows out of the stacks of a coal-fired power plant.
Photographer: Justin Merriman/BloombergThe Trump administration’s emergency order last week to extend the life of an aging coal plant that faced permanent closure this weekend is baffling experts and enraging clean-power advocates.
The decree thrust the J.H. Campbell power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan to the fore of President Donald Trump’s push to revive the country’s struggling coal industry. Conservative lawmakers who called for the extension hailed the move as a way to help a Midwest electric system facing occasional stress — and to counteract a years-long shift away from the dirtiest fossil fuel. The regional grid’s operator, however, said it did not ask for the action to be taken, raising questions on why it was deemed to be so urgent by the Trump administration.