North America, USA, Arizona, Page, Lake Powell , Navajo Generating Station from Wahweap Overlook. (Photo by: Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)

UPDATE: On Friday, the White House announced that Trump has officially ordered the Department of Energy to look into ways to save coal and nuclear plants from retirement. It’s unclear whether the department will pursue the plan outlined in the leaked memo, or some other plan.

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President Donald Trump has promised, time and time again, to bring back coal. And, time and time again, he has failed to make good on that promise.

So the Energy Department is hatching a new plan, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News, to force grid operators to buy electricity from coal and nuclear plants at risk of retirement, effectively keeping those failing power plants afloat.

The 41-page memo, which circulated before a National Security Council meeting, argues that “federal action is necessary to stop the further premature retirements of fuel-secure generation capacity.”

According to the memo, the Energy Department would exercise emergency authority under a pair of federal laws to compel grid operators […]