If Obama and his minions found that increasing coal production somehow would increase his political power we could count in days if not hours how long it would take for industry stifling restrictions on our nation's most plentiful energy reserve (109 Billion Proved Recoverable Tons). Suddenly coal would be considered the new green energy. Of course since the United States has the world's largest coal reserves and the left still feels that the best way to keep their hand on the jugular of the world's economies is by restricting and taxing energy sources I don't expect any change in policy in the near future.
"If Obama and his minions found that increasing coal production somehow would increase his political power we could count in days if not hours how long it would take for industry stifling restrictions to be lifted on our nation's most plentiful energy reserve (247 Billion Proved Recoverable Tons)."
Run against Obama/dems by running against the EPA.
But it is all being driven by court decisions. Everything the EPA does gets litigated, and often it is like ping pong. A particular court decision generates a second lawsuit, which when decided by the court, generates a third lawsuit. And so on.
Some of these issues take decades to resolve in the courts. Congress passed New Source Review in the late 70s. The case was in and out of court numerous times but it was not until 2007 that SCOTUS made a decision that supposedly finalized it. Then Texas found another avenue to go to court, and they will delay it in Texas for a while longer. But the rest of the nation moved on.
Sometimes these coal plants get cancelled for other reasons. The White Stallion coal plant in Texas fought off the enviros and nimbys, only to lose a legal battle with the rice farmers over water rights. The coal plant was cancelled because they couldn't get the water to run it.