Trump ally says emergency order from Rick Perry 'only option' to save coal

The CEO of coal giant Murray Energy, an ally of President Trump, said Tuesday that Energy Secretary Rick Perry “has to” approve an emergency order to save nuclear and coal power plants across the Midwest, warning of impending “disaster” if the government doesn’t act.

“It’s probably the only option right now,” Bob Murray said in remarks at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance conference in New York. “It’s absolutely needed. It can be for a specific time frame to stop these nuclear and coal closures until we get our house in order to ensure the resilience, reliability and security of the grid. It doesn’t have to be permanent. It must be done.”