Rick Perry defends controversial proposal, says coal and nuclear should be 'part of future'

Energy Secretary Rick Perry argued Friday morning that “there is no free market in energy” because he said the Obama administration unfairly boosted renewables, as he defended his much-criticized proposal to prop up coal and nuclear plants.

“It’s really important to understand in general terms there is no free market in the energy industry and anyone who stands up and says you are affecting the free market, well, there is no free market,” Perry told the audience at the Veterans in Energy Forum outside Washington, hosted by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. “Anyone who comes up and says that is not educated to what the reality of the market is.”