Trump isn't Saving the Coal Industry. He's Letting it Compete.

By Luke Popovich, Opinion Contributor, The Hill (03/30/17) – President Trump this week signed the American Energy Independence Executive Order, an action being used by allies and critics alike to rally their bases, particularly when it comes to the re-examination of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. But while one side predicts environmental Armageddon, and the other cheers for an industry’s resurgence, there are significant truths that are being overlooked by each extreme. In considering the president’s regulatory reset, context is key. The Trump administration follows a frenzied regulatory attack on the economy that is without precedent. The Obama administration circumvented Congress and ignored voters’ demand for good jobs in order to practice what might be called public relations by regulation — a record number of cleverly-named regulations proclaiming "stream protection" and "clean power" that were designed to please activists and seduce the public but that rarely accomplished their stated purpose.