Trump's Forced Coal Plant Extensions Thrown Out by Judge

Saturday, September 12, 2026

The Department of Energy declared an "emergency" when none existed.

Posted by lamplighter at 08:31 PM | 38 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

Breaking News: A federal court struck down a Trump administration order to keep an aging coal plant in Michigan running -- dealing a blow to President Trump's efforts to promote the coal industry.

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-- The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2:19 PM Â· Sep 11, 2026

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More from the article ...

... The use of coal to generate electricity on the US grid has been plunging for nearly two decades, and the first Trump administration was unable to affect the trend. So his second administration has attempted more aggressive interventions to prop up coal use. One of its most direct means of doing so is to order coal plants that were scheduled to close to remain open, even if there is no need for them.

The administration's justification for these orders is a statute that allows the Department of Energy (DOE) to declare an emergency in the case of wartime or a sudden shortfall in generation. ...

The decision was issued by a unanimous three-judge panel from the DC Circuit's Court of Appeals. ...

The court interprets this as an indication that Congress had intended for federal intervention at the level of generation facilities to be rare and only in cases where there was an immediate shortfall that could only be addressed through federal action. And it notes that this is exactly how the authority had been used throughout its history. "Indeterminate assertions of summer electricity shortfalls are not what Congress meant by 'emergency,'" the judges conclude. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-09-12 01:49 PM | Reply

Good. Coal is a really lousy fuel.

#2 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-09-12 02:06 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

The emergency is the crazed pedo octogenarian

#3 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-09-12 02:38 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Good. Coal is a really lousy fuel.
#2 | POSTED BY REDIAL

But not Canadian forests?

Also why would Germany shut down nuclear power, and increase coal usage?

NEXT UP: Lumpers complaining about the price of electricity!

#4 | Posted by oneironaut at 2026-09-12 02:47 PM | Reply

NEXT UP: Lumpers complaining about the price of electricity!

Posted by oneironaut at 2026-09-12 02:47 PM | Reply

Trump is going to force Canada to cut power to 4 us states, idiot.

#5 | Posted by Alexandrite at 2026-09-12 02:55 PM | Reply | Funny: 1 | Newsworthy 1

Trump should shut off the judges's power.

#6 | Posted by visitor_ at 2026-09-12 11:19 PM | Reply | Funny: 1

#6 loves living in a monarchy... it goes with his 17th century wig.

#7 | Posted by Corky at 2026-09-12 11:23 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Visitor should get a job in a coal mine.

#8 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-09-12 11:24 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Coal is a really lousy fuel.
#2 | POSTED BY REDIAL

Trump is a really lousy President.

#9 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-09-12 11:25 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Lumpers complaining about the price of electricity!
#4 | POSTED BY ONETRUMPER

Fun fact about California.

The state produces so much power from solar energy, we didn't have any brownouts during these recent heatwaves.

You keep sucking that coal out of Trump's ass and we'll stick with solar.

#10 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-09-12 11:27 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 3

The only thing coal has going for it is that it's cheap, and there's lots of it. Otherwise, it sucks.

#11 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-09-12 11:35 PM | Reply

Reliable too.

#12 | Posted by visitor_ at 2026-09-13 12:26 AM | Reply | Funny: 1

#12

It doesn't get more reliable than a 4.5 billion year old continuously operating fusion reactor.

Coal is pretty garbage compared to that. And we're getting pretty good at turning that energy into electricity. And nobody gets black lung from it.

#13 | Posted by DarkVader at 2026-09-13 08:18 AM | Reply

#13 Never seen a cloud? or the darkness of night? or the results of a tornado/hailstorm on a solar farm? How clean is process to refine and combine the silicon and trace elements into panels? There's no free lunch.

#14 | Posted by visitor_ at 2026-09-13 09:54 AM | Reply | Funny: 2 | Newsworthy 1

Coal is pretty garbage compared to that.

It's garbage even compared to other fossil fuels. For one thing, it's a solid so you can't pipe it or pump it. It's low density so the volume you have to move is huge. The only practical way to use it for power generation is to build the power plant right on top of the mine it comes from, which is typically in the middle of nowhere.

#15 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-09-13 10:57 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Re 8

Visitor should get a job.

Period.

#16 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-09-13 11:48 AM | Reply

See Coal gasification.

#17 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2026-09-13 12:57 PM | Reply | Funny: 1

..or the results of a tornado/hailstorm on a solar farm?

How many are killed in solar plant accidents?

Next to none. (Direct deaths from solar power accidents are very rare, with statistical death rates estimated at about 0.02 deaths per terawatt-hour (TWh) of electricity produced.)

Ever seen a man with Black Lung disease also known as coal workers' pneumoconiosis. There is no cure.

How many die from solar power emissions? Zero

How many die from coal power emissions?

Coal-fired power plants caused about 460,000 to 500,000 deaths in the United States from 1999 to 2020 due to fine-particle air pollution.

How many die in coal mine incidents? Around the world tens of thousands die in coal mine incidents. In the US we are down to ten or so per year as we phase it out and replace it with cheaper and safer renewables.

#18 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-09-13 01:17 PM | Reply

Rr 10

You will learn to love the "Duck Curve".

#19 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-09-13 01:35 PM | Reply

See Coal gasification.

An expensive process that almost no one uses for turning coal into something slightly less ------?

#20 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-09-13 01:42 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

An expensive process that almost no one uses for turning coal into something slightly less ------?

#20 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-09-13 01:42 PM | Reply | Flag:

Have you ever priced a nuclear power plant?

#21 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2026-09-13 02:12 PM | Reply

You're a ------- imbecile. Who dresses you when you wake up after 3pm?

#22 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-09-13 09:58 PM | Reply

Ever seen a man with Black Lung disease also known as coal workers' pneumoconiosis.

There was a 60 minutes story on a coal miner who went to work in the mines at 18, working 70 hours a weeks for years because the money was great. Bought himself a home and shiny jacked up pickup truck.

Now he's in his 30's, unable to work and 24/7 on oxygen and knowing he will die in the near future.

#23 | Posted by Nixon at 2026-09-14 08:44 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

"The message I have for climate deniers is this: you are endangering humankind. It is time for climate deniers to face reality, because the body of evidence is overwhelming and the world's leading scientists agree. Wishing that climate change will go away by clinging to a tiny minority view is not a policy, it is a fantasy. Problems do not go away by pretending they do not exist."

Senator Barbara Boxer

#24 | Posted by SomebodyElse at 2026-09-14 12:05 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

You're a ------- imbecile. Who dresses you when you wake up after 3pm?

#22 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-09-13 09:58 PM | Reply | Flag:

Your mom should've shopped around for a professional abortion before using that coat hanger on you.

#25 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2026-09-14 06:05 PM | Reply

Your mom should've shopped around for a professional abortion before using that coat hanger on you.

#25 | Posted by lfthndthrds

Your cult leader poops his diapers and his new wig is hilarious.

#26 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2026-09-14 06:51 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Have you ever priced a nuclear power plant?

#21 | Posted by lfthndthrds

There's a free one up in the sky.

#27 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2026-09-14 06:52 PM | Reply

There's a free one up in the sky.
#27 | POSTED BY SPEAKSOFTLY

Typical SpeaksInsanly rubbish. US alone spent $180 billion just this year, on solar systems.

Such a waste. No need to spend all that every year. The US Navy has made over 270 nuclear reactors ($1,3Billion), run by high school kids.
Having over 500 reactor cores on 210 ships.

Just about one year of solar spending, and you could power CA for almost ever on cheap nuclear fuel. That doesn't even include the benefits to scaling up manufacturing.

#28 | Posted by oneironaut at 2026-09-14 07:06 PM | Reply

NY Times in 2021:
Scientists say that warm Atlantic surface temperatures "have helped to increase storm activity" as a result of human caused climate change
2026: no Atlantic hurricanes by 9/12 for the first time in 60 years

Always wrong, never in doubt.

The question I have is there any gold standard, or objective measure that we could use to prove MMClimateChange is real? Because every single time it seems none of the predictions from the know-it-alls is correct.

If the US just went nuclear and electric cars (SpeaksLikeAnIdiot didn't you NOT buy an electric vehicle you ordered because of Musk, LOL) we could have nice things.

#29 | Posted by oneironaut at 2026-09-14 07:10 PM | Reply

When I was a kid, they told me if I misbehaved that I'd get a lump of coal for Christmas. I always that would have been really cool, so I misbehaved even more. Unfortunately, they were bluffing.

#30 | Posted by sentinel at 2026-09-14 08:23 PM | Reply

I always that would have been really cool

It's not. You just end up with black powder all over your house.

#31 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-09-14 08:29 PM | Reply

"You just end up with black powder all over your house."

You must have gotten a really crappy lump of coal. I've seen ones that were solid and even shiny.

#32 | Posted by sentinel at 2026-09-14 08:38 PM | Reply

Typical SpeaksInsanly rubbish. US alone spent $180 billion just this year, on solar systems.

Such a waste. No need to spend all that every year. The US Navy has made over 270 nuclear reactors ($1,3Billion), run by high school kids.
Having over 500 reactor cores on 210 ships.

Just about one year of solar spending, and you could power CA for almost ever on cheap nuclear fuel. That doesn't even include the benefits to scaling up manufacturing.

#28 | Posted by oneironaut

Corporate slaves love finding new ways to pay oligarchs for their electricity.

Mine is free.

#33 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2026-09-14 08:49 PM | Reply

You must have gotten a really crappy lump of coal.

I worked in a coal processing plant for 40 years. I've seen many lumps of coal.

#34 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-09-14 09:00 PM | Reply

"I worked in a coal processing plant for 40 years. I've seen many lumps of coal."

Then you've probably seen ones like this:

showmerockhounds.com

That's the type I always wanted as a kid.

#35 | Posted by sentinel at 2026-09-14 09:35 PM | Reply