Photo Of Coal Clown Bob Murray Proves He Lied About Sec. Cementhead & The Big Coal Bailout

“I didn't have any involvement” in the drafting of a controversial new Department of Energy (DOE) rule subsidizing coal and nuclear plants, energy executive Robert Murray told Greenwire in late November. “This was done by the Trump administration. … I had nothing to do with it.” In These Times has obtained photographs of a March 29 meeting between Murray and Energy Secretary Rick Perry that call this claim into question. The photographs show the Murray Energy CEO presenting a proposal to alter the policies of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to favor coal plants, as a way to increase “grid reliability.”

The “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule,” proposed by the DOE on September 28, echoes that suggestion. The rule amounts to a bailout for the coal and nuclear industries, premised on the controversial idea that, in the event of a natural disaster or extreme weather event, only coal and nuclear plants offer the fuel stores necessary to keep the grid running. The rule mandates that utilities pay those plants to operate even if they might otherwise be outcompeted and shut down. In effect, the rule could mean that electricity customers subsidize coal and nuclear companies to the tune of anywhere from $4 billion to over $10 billion a year. As Politico has reported, the rule disproportionately benefits Murray Energy, because it applies specifically to the Midwestern, Appalachian and Northeastern markets where Murray’s customer base is concentrated.

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Murray hosted a similar, $2,500-a-head fundraising reception for Perry in 2011 during his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. “We are having a reception and dinner for Presidential candidate Governor James Richard “Rick” Perry of Texas, who is likely to be the Republican Nominee to defeat the destructive Barack Obama,” a letter of invitation from Murray states. The invite went on to describe the 2012 race as the “likely most vital election for America in our lifetimes.”

“In summary,” Murray concludes, “Governor Rick Perry, a ‘Reagan Republican,’ will attempt to restore confidence in the American Dream and American Exceptionalism, and get the Country moving again.” In all, Perry received six figures in donations from Murray Energy and its employees during that race, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Murray has come under legal fire and FEC investigation in the past for strong-arming his employees into making political contributions to the company’s conservative PAC. A 2012 memo from Murray, obtained as evidence in a lawsuit brought by one of his former employees, pressures managers into compelling salaried workers to attend a fundraising event for the chairs of the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources committees, the lower house bodies “with the greatest jurisdiction over coal.”

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http://inthesetimes.com/features/murray_energy_trump_doe_coal_industry_grid_plan.html