Not Even Trump Can Save Coal
This edition is available to all (except the paid exclusives). Support my work and upgrade to paid here for as little as $5 a month. I have a special spring discount on annual subs until July.
LISTENING: to them new york anthems
FEELING: sleepy
SEEING: gray clouds creeping
It's a good time to be a New Yorker, y'all. I'm feeling aliiiiiive! We got Zohran Mamdani in the mayoral seat. Knicks is up! (I'm writing this ahead of game four, so let's hope they're still up by the time you receive this in the morning.) I leave for a little vaca for my girl's wedding weekend. Hello, Columbia River Gorge! Now, let me pass some of these good vibes onto y'all.
But before I dive in — have you taken the latest reader survey? It should only take about five minutes to fill out. The information helps me figure out if I should rethink my newsletter approach, and it may help advertisers buy some classifieds. (Yes, those are still for sale!) If you fill out the survey, you can also enter the raffle for a free annual sub or a collage of your choice mailed to you (plus a little something extra).
That's out of the way, so onto the news. I just read this Yale E360 article that, for the first time ever, solar provided more electricity in the U.S. than coal. May, my favorite month of the year, marked a new future for this country. It's wild to imagine that some coal plants are still running, but they are. Over 200 are still chugging along, many built in the '70s or '80s.
The analysis by global energy research group Ember found that solar supplied 12.8 percent of the U.S. electricity supply in May 2026. Coal was not far behind at 12.2 percent. This is a big deal. President Donald Trump has been doing everything he can to keep coal alive — despite the ugly realities that this dirty fuel has killed nearly half a million people from 1999 to 2020.
Just last week, Trump gave $700 million in taxpayer dollars to the industry using the wartime authority of the Defense Production Act. This investment is meant to keep coal plants up and running across 10 states, turn on an export terminal in Oakland, and restart another plant in Maryland, per the Guardian. The president's staunch support for the industry also made last year a slow one for retiring coal plants. Nine plants were meant to retire last year, but the federal government delayed their closures with emergency orders, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Well, take that, oil and gas goons! Not even your precious subsidies and eMeRgeNciEs can stop clean energy from taking over. The American people are already over the high gas prices. Once they realize how much cheaper solar and wind are, it's a wrap. In New York, the state senate recently passed the SUNNY Act, which will legalize plug-in solar panels people like me can hang on their balcony.
I know what my big investment will be next year — and I cannot fucking wait. 🌀
The newsletter ends here for free subscribers. Why not upgrade?
