'So dumb': Michigan residents 'flabbergasted' by latest Trump 'gambit'

21 August

President Donald Trump is a relentless defender of fossil fuels, including coal, and rails against what he calls the "Green New Deal scam." Trump claims, without evidence, that windmills cause cancer — a claim that quite a few scientists and environmentalists say is nonsense.

Critics of Trump's energy policy argue that not only is coal terrible for the environment and a contributor to climate change — it is also inefficient compared to green energy.

In Michigan, a coal-fired power station, the JH Campbell plant, is struggling. But the Trump Administration, according to The Guardian's Oliver Milman, is determined to keep it open despite the expense and pollution concerns.

"Donald Trump has made several unusual moves to elongate the era of coal, such as giving the industry exemptions from pollution rules," Milman reports in an article published on August 21. "But the gambit to keep one Michigan coal-fired power station running has been extraordinary — by forcing it to remain open even against the wishes of its operator. The hulking JH Campbell power plant, which, since 1962, has sat a few hundred yards from the sand dunes at the edge of Lake Michigan, was just eight days away from a long-planned closure in May when Trump's Department of Energy issued an emergency order that it remain open for a further 90 days."

Milman adds, "On Wednesday, (August 20), the (Trump) Administration intervened again to extend this order even further, prolonging the lifetime of the coal plant another 90 days, meaning it will keep running until November — six months after it was due to close."

One Michigan resident who is highly critical of the JH Campbell plant is Mark Oppenhuizen, who lives nearby and fears that pollution from the plant has made his wife's lung disease worse.

Oppenhuizen told The Guardian, "My family had a countdown for it closing. We couldn't wait. I was flabbergasted when the administration said they had stopped it shutting down. Why are they inserting themselves into a decision a company has made? Just because politically, you don't like it? It's all so dumb."

According to Milman, keeping JH Campbell from closing down will cost a fortune.

"In Michigan, the cost of keeping JH Campbell open is set to be steep," Milman reports. "Consumers Energy initially estimated its closure would save ratepayers $600m by 2040 as it shifts to cheaper, cleaner energy sources such as solar and wind. Reversing this decision costs $1m a day in operating costs, an imposition that Midwest residents will have to meet through their bills. It is understood the company privately told outside groups it fears the administration could keep adding 90-day emergency orders for the entire remainder of Trump's term."

Read Oliver Milman's full article for The Guardian at this link.

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