HomeTechnologyTrump's emergency orders pushing coal power are "illegal" as well as dumb

Trump's emergency orders pushing coal power are "illegal" as well as dumb

TechnologyApril 9, 2026
1 min read
Trump's emergency orders pushing coal power are "illegal" as well as dumb
A World War II-era policy is stopping old coal plants from closing.
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At one time, the US electricity grid ran mostly on coal.

But coal-fired power plants have steadily been decommissioned. Power producers found the plants were too expensive to operate and carried risks tied to toxic air pollution, waste, and climate-warming emissions.

Then President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year with a fresh zeal to revive the coal industry. His Department of Energy invoked emergency powers to force utilities to keep old plants operating.

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Source: Ars Technica

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