President Donald Trump on Friday directed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to prepare “immediate steps” to bolster struggling coal-fired and nuclear power plants to keep them open.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump believes “keeping America’s energy grid and infrastructure strong and secure protects our national security, public safety and economy from intentional attacks and natural disasters.”
Impending retirements of “fuel-secure” power plants that rely on coal and nuclear power are harming the nation’s power grid and reducing its resilience, Sanders said.
The directive comes as the Trump administration considers a plan to order operators of the nation’s power grid to buy electricity from coal and nuclear plants to keep them open.
The action by the Energy Department, if ordered, would represent an unprecedented intervention into U.S. energy markets.
A draft memo by the Energy Department urges federal action to “stop the further premature retirements of fuel-secure generation” from coal and nuclear plants that have struggled to compete with natural gas and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo.
The plan would direct grid operators to buy power from coal and nuclear plants for two years to ensure grid reliability, “promote the national defense and maximize domestic energy supplies.”
Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin says he will not join Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Register-Herald reports Manchin addressed speculation that Trump was considering appointing him as energy secretary during a town hall meeting at the State Fair of West Virginia. Manchin said “that is not going to happen.” He said he is staying in the Senate and that his “heart and soul is West Virginia.”
Trump won West Virginia with 68 percent of the vote during the 2016 presidential election. Earlier this month, the state’s Democratic governor switched parties. Gov. Jim Justice made the announcement during a Trump campaign rally in his state.
The newspaper reported Manchin’s comments drew cheers from a crowd of about 75 people.
Trump administration officials have been visiting parts of the country affected by the opioid addiction crisis, including the Ohio Valley region. The administration called it a “listening tour,” and they got an earful in events marked by protests and controversies.
Some people working to combat the epidemic in the region say they’re concerned about the potential effects of the administration’s approach, including proposed health care changes and a possible return to harsher criminal prosecutions for drug charges.
The Trump Approach
Last October then-candidate Donald Trump laid out his plan to tackle the opioid epidemic. In a campaign event he focused on stopping the flow of drugs, issuing harsher trafficking penalties, and supporting addiction treatment.
“We’ll make sure they have the top treatment and get better,” Trump told the crowd in New Hampshire.
This month, President Trump sent his top health and law enforcement officials — Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price — to hear from people most affected by the crisis.
Matt Boggs is executive director of Recovery Point West Virginia, which operates long-term recovery centers around the state. He was among those invited to talk with Secretary Price during his visit to the state capital, Charleston.
Credit Aaron Payne / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Matt Boggs takes an abstinence-based approach to treatment at Huntington’s Recovery Point.
“There was about 20 or so folks in the meeting. I was definitely honored to be a part of that,” Boggs said. “I was the only person in long-term recovery in the room. So that meant a lot.”
He said he appreciates that the administration is paying attention to the issue. But he has some concerns about certain aspects of their approach.
Medicaid’s Role
Boggs is worried about the effects of the administration’s approach to health care coverage under Medicaid.
He hopes the administration learned how important the Medicaid expansion from the Affordable Care Act was to those with substance use disorders in West Virginia.
“It provides these folks essential health services so that they can treat the underlying issues they have, other chronic illnesses, things like that,” Boggs said. “Without the Medicaid expansion, it would really hurt our efforts.”
Some projections estimate coverage for substance use disorders would be at risk under the House-passed version of the ACA replacement.
Price disagreed with the premise that individuals will lose health care and said the administration’s focus is on improvement.
“The goal is to make sure that the health care is the kind of care that individuals across this land need.”
Without analysis from the Congressional Budget Office it is unclear what effect the proposed bill will have on coverage for addiction treatment. That analysis is expected as early as next week.
Secretary Price made a comment about such treatments involving methadone and buprenorphine during his stop in Charleston that gave some medical professionals concern.
“If we’re just substituting one opioid for another, we’re not moving the dial much,” Price said during his visit, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. “Folks need to be cured so they can be productive members of society and realize their dreams.”
Price then touted faith-based programs and naltrexone — a non-opioid medication.
The comment received responses from treatment specialists around the country who criticized it as going against evidence-based research on keeping every treatment option open.
“Decades of research have shown that the benefits of medication assisted treatment greatly outweigh the risks associated with diversion,” former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wrote in a Tweet responding to Price’s comment. “It’s critical we get treatment right-millions of lives are on the line. Science, not opinion, should guide our recommendations and policies.”
The HHS office shortly after reaffirmed its dedication to medication assisted treatments and pointed out the HHS website’s link that helps individuals find medication assisted treatment.
Enforcement vs. Treatment
While Price focused on treatment during his visit, Attorney General Jeff Sessions focused on prevention and law enforcement.
Sessions emphasized prevention programs like the “Just Say No” program from the 80s.
“Illegal drugs are dangerous and deadly,” he told the crowd gathered at the University of Charleston. “Say no, don’t do it, it’s not right to do it. It’s wrong to do it. It’s wrong to help other people, lead them into drug use when they have no business doing so,” he said.
Boggs is critical of this old approach, saying while well-intended, the “Just Say No” program was not effective because it didn’t treat addiction as a disease.
“If I’m born with diabetes, I don’t have the ability to just say no,” he said. “So if folks can’t say no to drugs, then they need to be seeking treatment.”
But Boggs does like some of the initiatives put forth by the Trump administration. The creation of a task force led by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to develop best practices for addressing the epidemic is encouraging to him.
He would like for someone from West Virginia to be named to the task force as a representative to the unique needs and challenges the state faces in the epidemic. But it’s more important to him that President Trump follow through with the recommendations they make.
Boggs said in the meantime it is important for those working to combat the opioid epidemic to continue to make their voices heard.
“I think it’s important that we continue to advocate, we continue to talk about recovery. We’ve got to talk about prevention.”
Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell visited Charleston today to voice support for the Affordable Care Act.
Burwell came as part of a West Virginians for Affordable Health Care event to advocate for universal and affordable health care.
The event included testimonials from eight West Virginians who have benefited from various provisions in the Affordable Care Act. Advocates of the law, including Secretary Burwell say they are very concerned about the future of the ACA under the leadership of president-elect Donald Trump.
Donald Trump has said under his administration, the Affordable Care Act will be repealed. Of particular concern to advocates is the future of protective ACA provisions, including expanded Medicaid, the ability to stay on parental insurance policies until age 26 and the inability of insurance companies to deny coverage to patients with preexisting conditions.
In the past six years, about 20 million people have gained healthcare coverage in the United States under the ACA, including more than 220,000 West Virginians. Advocates say they will fight to protect this coverage in the coming months.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.
