Donald Trump doesn’t qualify even as a George W. Bush substitute, much less a Cato Institute acolyte, when it comes to adhering to the principle of nonintervention in markets. This we knew going in. But his latest on behalf of coal miners at least waves a fig leaf in the direction of a genuine problem. A presidential missive this month to the Energy Department could eventually result in grid operators, in the name of national security, being ordered to buy power from large coal and nuclear plants that otherwise would be shut down due to unprofitability. Such an order is somewhat unprecedented, but the fainting spells of energy lobbyists are hard to take, especially from a solar-and-wind promoter at the American Council on Renewable Energy who complained of “arbitrary market interventions.” Energy decisions are already highly politicized. That’s the problem, especially the mandates in many states to keep ratcheting […]