Trump Promises To Bring Back Coal...: Speaking at a rally in Kentucky Monday night, President Trump told the crowd his administration is "preparing new executive actions to save our coal industry and to save our wonderful coal miners from continuing to be put out of work." The president also promised to "turn the EPA from a job-killer into a job creator." The timing of the executive order in question, which reportedly includes ordering a rewrite of the Clean Power Plan and threats to the social cost of carbon, was pushed back again by the White House on Monday. The president will reportedly sign the order by the end of this month. Speaking of job killers versus job creators, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed vowed
Saturday to oppose the Trump budget's proposed cuts to the Appalachian Regional Commission, which helps with economic revitalization in areas devastated by coal's decline. (Trump rally: Reuters. EO: Politico Pro $, The Hill, Washington Examiner. McConnell: AP, E&E $. Commentary: The Hill, Dan Cohan op-ed)
...But Coal Hasn't Gotten the Message: Hours before Trump's rally, electric company Dayton Power & Light announced plans to
close two of its coal-fired plants in Ohio by next June. The company announced in a statement that, "without significant changes in market conditions," the J.M. Stuart and Killen plants would
not be "economically viable beyond mid-2018." The plants, which sit at the heart of a region Trump promised to revitalize, generate 3,000 MW of energy and employ nearly 500 workers.
In a settlement reached earlier this year with groups including the Sierra Club, the company will invest in 300 MW of solar and wind projects by 2022 and provide a $2 million fund for the communities affected by the plants' closures. (Reuters, The Hill, Dayton Daily News, Dayton Business Journal. Commentary: Axios, Shane Savitsky analysis)
Where Are Your Emails, Wayne? The Massachusetts attorney general's office sent ExxonMobil a letter Monday ordering the company to preserve all executive emails, including emails sent from "alias" addresses.
The letter specifically calls out the emails sent by then-CEO Rex Tillerson under the "Wayne Tracker" moniker, reminding the company that "
Exxon is required to preserve all potentially responsive documents" under the subpoena issued last year by New York and Massachusetts AGs seeking information on how much the company knew about the link between fossil fuels and climate change. In a separate order, lawyers for the 21 children and teens suing the government over climate policy also asked the company to turn over the Wayne Tracker emails Monday.
Exxon admitted last week that
Tillerson's emails under the Wayne.Tracker@exxonmobil.com address may have been deleted.
(MA AG: AP, InsideClimate News. Climate kids: Reuters. Deleted emails: Buzzfeed)