6/1/2018

ENERGY/NATIONAL SECURITY/RICK PERRY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Friday [6-1-18] formally threw his weight behind an administration push to compel power companies to keep their coal-fired and nuclear plants operating in the name of national security — an effort that has stirred criticism from environmentalists, the oil and gas industry and some free-market Republicans…The statement came five months after Perry failed to persuade federal grid regulators to adopt an earlier proposal to keep economically ailing coal and nuclear power plants operating. That proposal would have overwhelmingly benefited mining magnate Bob Murray, an outspoken Trump supporter whose operations supply coal to several endangered plants in the Midwest and Northeast, according to a POLITICO analysis. The National Security Council is meeting Friday to discuss a draft memo that outlines a plan to require grid operators to buy power from coal-fired and nuclear plants for 24 months while a more detailed national security study is under way. The memo argues that ‘fuel security’ is crucial for protecting the grid against possible disruption from physical or cyberattacks on pipelines. However, grid operators and utilities have said the vast majority of the nation faces no near term threat from supply disruption.”

-Eric Wolff, “Trump tells Perry to stop coal plant closures,” Politico, June 1, 2018 2:29 pm