Trump Michigan Coal Bid Blocked

A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday vacated Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s emergency order requiring the J.H. Campbell coal plant in West Olive, Michigan, to keep operating past its planned May 2025 retirement. The court held that the Energy Department exceeded its authority under a rarely used emergency provision of federal power law. The 64-year-old plant had been scheduled to shut as its owner shifted replacement power toward renewable sources. The ruling is an early legal setback for the Trump administration’s coal-support policy.