Dirty Jobs: Surrounded by miners and coal executives at the Environmental Protection Agency, President Trump yesterday signed an executive order rolling back President Obama’s policies to cut greenhouse gases, claiming it will make the US more energy independent while putting coal miners back to work

“C’mon fellas. You know what this is? You know what this says?” Trump said to the miners. “You’re going back to work.”

It’s questionable how many jobs Trump’s order will restore. Coal has lost market share to cheaper natural gas, and the coal mines have mechanized, causing even more layoffs. They don’t need as many people. Also, because the US does not import any coal, mining more coal will not contribute to energy independence.

Trump’s order begins the dismantling of Obama’s Clean Power plan, which forces coal-fired power plants to cut climate-warming emissions. Trump said, “My administration is putting an end to the war on coal.”

His order may extend the life of some older coal plants. If the order goes into full effect, the US might miss the emissions targets in the Paris climate accord, which was written to avoid an irreversible global tailspin into climate change.

The Russia House: Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said yesterday he will not remove himself from the investigation into Russian influence over the US election. Democrats want him out because he met with an unnamed person on the White House grounds to review classified intelligence documents, and the next day briefed the president on information that the rest of the committee hadn’t seen.

The White House is denying a report in the Washington Post that the administration tried to prevent former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates from testifying by exercising executive privilege. White House spokesman Sean Spicer called the report “100 percent false.”

The Russia issue is a sore point with the administration, and certainly in the White House briefing room. Asked yesterday how the administration will repair its image amidst the Russia mess, Spicer snapped, “If the president puts Russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that’s a Russian connection.”

Click Here: Congress has passed a law to reverse a federal regulation requiring that internet service providers ask their customers’ permission before selling their data. President Trump is likely to sign the law.

Service providers like Comcast,  Verizon, and Charter collect enormous amounts of information about the websites people visit, including medical, financial, and personal information. Now they will be able to sell it to advertisers without your knowledge.

STAT: Less than a week after saying he was done with healthcare and moving on to tax reform, Trump said at a White House dinner last night that he’s still working on it. “I know that we’re all going to make a deal on healthcare,” Trump said. “I have no doubt that’s going to happen very quickly.” He called it, “such an easy one.”

The NY Times reports that, under pressure from conservative activists, the White House and House leaders have revived negotiations over a healthcare bill.

Made in USA: Ford Motor announced yesterday that it is investing $1.2 billion in its Michigan production facilities. While the Trump administration is claiming partial credit, it’s really a response to low gasoline prices and high demand for SUV’s and pickup trucks.

Twister: In a spate of tornadoes in the West and Midwest, three storm chasers were killed in a collision at an intersection about 55 miles outside Lubbock, Tex.

Him, Her, They: Recognizing the changing and sometimes confusing world of gender identity, the Associated Press has added the word “they” to its stylebook

for use as a gender-neutral pronoun. It’s already common on college campuses with people who choose not to identify as either gender.

The AP Stylebook entry says, “In stories about people who identify as neither male nor female or ask not to be referred to as he/she/him/her: Use the person’s name in place of a pronoun, or otherwise reword the sentence, whenever possible. If they/them/their use is essential, explain in the text that the person prefers a gender-neutral pronoun.”

Using it won’t be easy. The sentence “They is leaving” might require what they call a “write around.”

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