Former Trump appointee Mandy Gunasekara writes in the Palm Beach Post that the myth about “coal in the stocking” of a bad children is just propaganda from the renewable fuels industry.

“Santa understands the vital role coal has and will continue to play in human flourishing. Accordingly, he has called for coal-shaming to end and in an effort to start this trend, he will be leaving a lump of ‘beautiful, clean coal’ in the president’s stocking. Regardless of their naughty or nice status, all little boys and all little girls deserve a brighter, healthier and more prosperous future and the path for that starts with a reliable, safe and clean source of energy.”

Associated Press: “The Associated Press reported some details in October of the brash pitch that Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman made to Andrew Favorov in Houston. But in a recent series of interviews with the AP in Kyiv, Favorov painted a more complete picture of his dealings with Giuliani’s associates.”

“His tale, corroborated by interviews with other key witnesses, reveals that the pair continued to pursue a deal for months. The campaign culminated in May, at a meeting at the Trump International Hotel in Washington that included a lobbyist with deep ties to U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry and a Republican fundraiser from Texas close to Donald Trump Jr.”

“The maneuvering over Naftogaz came at the same time that Giuliani, with the help of Parnas and Fruman, were trying to get Yovanovitch out of the way and persuade Ukraine’s leaders to launch an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s work with Burisma, a rival Ukrainian gas company.”

“President Trump lashed out again at wind farms on Saturday, claiming that the production of wind turbines causes a large carbon footprint, The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “I never understood wind. I know windmills very much, I have studied it better than anybody. I know it is very expensive. They are made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none, but they are manufactured, tremendous — if you are into this — tremendous fumes and gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right?”

He went on: “So the world is tiny compared to the universe. So tremendous, tremendous amount of fumes and everything. You talk about the carbon footprint, fumes are spewing into the air, right spewing, whether it is China or Germany, is going into the air.”

During a roundtable event on small business, President Trump expressed his dislike of energy efficient light bulbs, CNBC reports.

Said Trump: “It doesn’t make you look as good. Being a vain person, that’s very important to me. It gives you an orange look, I don’t want an orange look.”

“Federal prosecutors are planning to interview an executive with Ukraine’s state-owned gas company as part of an ongoing probe into the business dealings of Rudy Giuliani and two of his Soviet-born business associates,” the AP reports.

“A lawyer for Andrew Favorov confirmed Tuesday that he is scheduled to meet voluntarily with the U.S. Justice Department. Favorov is the director of the integrated gas division at Naftogaz, the state-owned gas provider in Ukraine.”

“Robert Murray, the U.S. coal baron who pressed the Trump administration to help save America’s struggling miners, placed his company into bankruptcy as demand for the fossil fuel continues to weaken,” Bloomberg reports.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who will be leaving his post by the year’s end, said Friday that he is not sure whether he will comply with a subpoena from House Democrats conducting an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, CNBC reports.

Politico: “Energy Department Secretary Rick Perry’s departure from the Trump administration doesn’t resolve the most pressing question about his role in the Ukraine scandal — whether he will cooperate with House Democrats’ impeachment probe.”

“Perry, who told President Donald Trump on Thursday he intends to resign, faces a Friday deadline to comply with a House subpoena for information about outreach to Ukraine, which came as the president’s emissaries were pushing Kiev to launch a corruption investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. House investigators also appear to be edging toward issuing a subpoena for Perry to testify — something he could be freer to do once he’s no longer in the administration.”

New York Times: “Rick Perry, the energy secretary who has drawn scrutiny for his role in the controversy surrounding President Trump’s efforts to push Ukraine officials to investigate the son of a political rival, on Thursday told the president he would resign from the cabinet.”

“The Perry resignation had been anticipated for several weeks, even before the news emerged of his involvement in efforts to pressure the new president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate a company that had worked with Hunter Biden, the younger son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.”

Three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry against President Trump issued a subpoena for Energy Secretary Rick Perry to testify, NBC News reports.

Cecil Roberts, the president of United Mine Workers of America, said that the coal industry is not “back,” despite President Trump’s claims, CNN reports.

Said Roberts: “Coal’s not back. Nobody saved the coal industry.”

He added that coal-fired plants are closing all over the country, calling it a “harsh reality.”

“Joe Balash — who oversaw oil and gas drilling on federal lands before resigning from Interior on Friday — is joining a foreign oil company that’s expanding operations on Alaska’s North Slope,” the Washington Post reports.

“Balash, who had served as the Interior Department’s assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management for nearly two years, confirmed in a phone interview Tuesday night that he will begin working for the Papua New Guinea-based Oil Search, which is developing one of Alaska’s largest oil prospects in years.”

“President Trump ordered cabinet members on Monday to stem the tide of rising anger in Iowa and other Farm Belt states over his administration’s decision to allow numerous oil refiners to mix less ethanol into their gasoline,” Reuters reports.

“About a week ago, the administration granted 31 exemptions from the nation’s biofuel laws to 31 refineries.”

“Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is recommending that the agency cut back on inspections at the country’s nuclear reactors, a cost-cutting move promoted by the nuclear power industry but denounced by opponents as a threat to public safety,” the AP reports.

“The recommendations, made public Tuesday, include reducing the time and scope of some annual inspections at the nation’s 90-plus nuclear power plants. Some other inspections would be cut from every two years to every three years.”