Coal industry documents show extent of effort to influence Trump on Paris accord, regulations

Bob Murray, CEO of Ohio-based Murray Energy, sent the Trump administration drafts of executive orders for withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, according to documents obtained by E&E News. All the president had to do was sign them.

The orders also would have rolled back coal regulations established under the Obama administration that Murray thought were a burden to his industry, E&E News reported.

There's no indication President Trump signed the orders and industry often gets involved with helping lawmakers and administrations write policy, but the documents released Wednesday reveal the extent of the energy CEO's efforts to get rid of environmental regulations on his industry.

E&E News obtained the documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

In a series of letters dated March 28, 2017, Murray sent Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt orders to review and consider, E&E reported. That included language to exit the Paris accord.

"President Trump should issue an executive order to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, and/or to direct the relevant federal agencies that they shall not require coal-fired electric generators to take action to comply with the Accord," Murray wrote.

The documents go on to look at FirstEnergy's efforts to influence Energy Department officials and reveal the role played by now-EPA Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler, who then worked as Murray's lobbyist.

In January, the Associated Press looked at a March 1, 2017, memo addressed to Vice President Mike Pence in which Murray "listed our suggested actions in order of priority" and stated the energy executive stood "available to assist you and your administration in any way that you request."

Murray, an early campaign supporter of Trump and major GOP political donor, has gotten about half the items on his 2017 wish list. They include pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accords and revoking the Clean Power Plan, Obama's signature effort to limit planet-warming emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Under Trump, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has also moved to reconsider rules meant to protect miners from breathing coal and rock dust — the primary cause of black lung — and diesel exhaust, which can cause cancer.

Other Murray priorities, such as eliminating federal tax credits for wind turbines and solar panels, have floundered, however. The renewable energy tax breaks were largely retained in the final Republican-drafted tax plan signed by Trump in December.

And despite Trump's campaign pledges to put scores of coal miners back to work by ending what he and Murray have derided as Obama's "War on Coal," the administration's regulatory rollback has thus far had modest economic benefits.

Only about 500 coal mining jobs were added in Trump's first year, bringing the total to about 50,900 nationally, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The nation's utilities have also continued to shutter coal-fired plants in favor of those burning natural gas made cheaper and more abundant by new drilling technologies.

"President Trump has done a wonderful job in addressing what is needed to improve the cost of electricity in America and to improve the reliability, security and resilience of the electric power grid," Murray told AP. "I give him very high marks."

Read the documents obtained by E&E News here:

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Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Carolyn McAtee Cerbin on Twitter: @carolyncerbin