Trump chose Christmas Week to unveil his gift to the nation.
He suspended five contracts for partially built wind farms on the East Coast. And on Christmas Eve, he revived the coal industry, even though coal is a major source of air pollution.
A day after the Trump administration acted to throttle offshore wind farms, it tossed two lifelines to coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel and a favored industry of the president.
The government ordered two coal-burning power plants in Indiana to continue operating past their scheduled closure dates while it also gave hundreds of coal plants an additional five years before they need to prevent toxic chemicals from leaching into sources of drinking water.
The dual moves late on Tuesday were part of the administration’s sweeping effort to bolster the struggling coal industry and avoid having coal plants close on President Trump’s watch.
The day before, the Trump administration had dealt a devastating blow to clean energy by ordering the suspension of five offshore wind projects that were under construction along the East Coast and poised to deliver power to more than 2.5 million homes and businesses.
Diane Ravitch's blog 