Authored by Rob Sabo via The Epoch Times,

The Internal Revenue Service is taking longer to process tax refunds than it did a year ago, but the average size of refund checks that have already been issued to taxpayers is up by nearly 11 percent from those received through the same period in 2025.

Early individual taxpayer refunds are moving sluggishly because of the PATH Act, which required the IRS to hold tax returns from filers who claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) until Feb. 15, the federal tax agency said in a statement on Feb. 13.

Through Feb. 7, the IRS had received 22,351,000 tax returns, a 5.2 percent decline from 2025, when it had received 23,589,000. However, the IRS noted, that number does not include refunds that it has already received but were held back due to the PATH Act provisions.

“It’s important to note this week’s refund numbers do not include millions of EITC and ACTC refunds to these taxpayers,” the IRS stated.

Millions of taxpayers are expected to see an increase in their refunds in the 2026 tax season due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which brought widespread changes in the tax code. Chief among the major provisions expected to benefit taxpayers is an increase to the standard deduction to $16,100 for individual filers and $32,200 for married couples who file a joint return.

In addition, a new exemption of up to $12,500 ($25,000 if married and filing jointly) for qualified overtime pay, along with a deduction of up to $25,000 for income derived from tips, and a new $6,000 deduction for seniors ages 65 and older, could lead to significantly higher tax returns.

Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy for the Bipartisan Policy Center, said in late January that the new provisions could complicate individual returns because companies may not have updated their reporting systems to help employees clearly understand and claim the new deductions.

“In contrast, many changes in [the One Big Beautiful Bill] are relatively straightforward: The larger standard deduction is simple, and will be claimed by tens of millions of taxpayers,” Lautz said.

“The larger [Child Tax Credit] will also benefit tens of millions of families, although new restrictions on some families may complicate tax filing and credit claiming. The new deduction for seniors will cut taxes for millions and is easily verified by the taxpayer’s age.”

The IRS said it has already issued more than 7.4 million refund payments, with the average refund payment totaling $2,990—a $925 increase from the average refund payment for the same time frame a year earlier.

Electronic filings by certified tax professionals of 7.86 million are down by 9.6 percent from 2025. The IRS said it has seen a 35.2 percent spike in visits to its website, with nearly 127 million visits versus nearly 94 million visits in the same period last year.

However, the agency said numbers tend to come in line with previous years as the tax season progresses.

“Large percentage changes in filing season numbers are usually seen at the beginning of each tax season. Historically, these numbers even out in future weeks as more tax returns come in,” the IRS stated.

The IRS will publish updated tax refund statistics on Feb. 27 for returns processed through Feb. 20 that will include returns from taxpayers who claimed the EITC and ACTC.

The “war unicorn” startup boom we pointed out the other week isn’t just an American story. It’s happening across the West, as defense startups built around dual-use technology could become the next hot bubble.

Goldman analysts, led by Sam Burgess, told clients on Tuesday that European defense is seeing a “rise of the startups,” which could reshape an industry long dominated by major defense contractors.

Burgess said there are more than 380 defense tech startups across Europe, and these companies have raised over $3 billion, heavily focused on dual-use areas like AI analytics, autonomy, sensing, cyber resilience, and next-generation communications.

He said these startups are clustered around major innovation hubs in London, Munich, Stockholm, Paris, and Helsinki, backed by early-stage investors and public programs, including the NATO Innovation Fund and the EIF Defense Equity Facility.

Here’s a visual breakdown of the EU defense startups ecosystem:

“Recent conflicts, particularly the war in Ukraine, have underscored the need for rapid technological iteration, multi-domain integration, and a digitally enabled battlefield,” Burgess said.

Burgess’ note is exactly on point and follows our view of the rise of war unicorn startups as big defense primes face an “adapt or die” moment, as the war in Ukraine and a surge in dual-use technologies (drones, ground bots, and AI kill chains) have pushed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to recently announce a move to accelerate the fielding of this new technology.

Translation: The DoW under Hegseth and the rest of the procurement process are moving away from bloated legacy defense primes toward defense tech startups, creating a boom as we’ve characterized by the rise of war unicorns like Palmer Luckey’s Anduril Industries.

The shift away from big defense primes in the DoW’s procurement process comes as the war in Ukraine has given military planners and strategists an uncomfortable preview of what conflict in the 2030s could look like. It’s not just about expensive stealth jets, bombers, and big, fancy missiles and cannons. It’s about ground robots, drones, and consumer-grade products that can easily be weaponized.

Professional subscribers can read the full note on Europe’s rise of defense startups on our new Marketdesk.ai portal​​​​.

Via Remix News,

The German public broadcaster ZDF has admitted to a significant editorial oversight after its flagship news program, Heute Journal, aired AI-generated images featuring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arresting an immigrant family.

After uproar on social media over the fake news segment, which included a visible OpenAI’ “Sora” watermark on the screen, the broadcaster expressed regret over the error and has since updated the report to remove the synthetic content.

Critics pointed out that while it is becoming harder to differentiate fake AI content from real events, the appearance of the Sora watermark made it clear that this was AI content.

🇩🇪JUST IN: German public broadcaster ZDF is accused of spreading a fake AI-generated clip of “ICE troops” arresting a migrant family.

Remarkably, the clip features a Sora AI watermark.

All Germans are forced to pay a €20 fee every month to support public networks like ZDF. pic.twitter.com/sZ3wHghoRd

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 16, 2026

The controversy from the Feb. 15 report featured fake AI scenes of a woman and two children being led away by ICE. During the segment, ICE agents were referred to as “troops.”

When questioned about the incident, ZDF stated that the images should have been clearly marked. The broadcaster explained: “This marking was not transferred when the article was transferred for technical reasons.”

The question now is whether ZDF generated these images in-house. ZDF has declined to comment on whether the editorial staff was aware that the footage was AI-generated at the time of the initial broadcast.

If ZDF created them, the fact that arguably the biggest public broadcaster is creating AI-generated content for public broadcasting is raising concerns about how often AI-generated content has been produced without proper labeling in the past.

In response, ZDF reiterated its commitment to transparency, noting: “ZDF’s AI principles stipulate that AI-generated images are always transparently labeled.”

The incident caused further confusion when the original broadcast was temporarily removed from YouTube and the ZDF media library, leading some media outlets to report that the broadcaster had “deleted its fake video.” ZDF clarified that the removal was only a temporary measure while the editorial team replaced the AI sequences with authentic video and still images.

A revised version of the program is now available in the media library, accompanied by a disclaimer stating: “Video subsequently changed for editorial reasons.”

All German households are required to pay nearly €20 per month to fund ZDF and other public broadcasting outlets like ARD. That translates to billions every year.

The outlets are routinely accused of bias against conservatives, including negative reports targeting the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and a high rate of rejection for AfD guests on the networks .

Read more here…

Currently France and Britain are in talks to potentially extend their nuclear arsenals to protect Europe as a defense ‘umbrella’ – at a moment some officials have questioned the United States commitment to leading NATO.

Politico wrote in the aftermath of the Munich Security Conference, “Multiple European countries are publicly backing talks on a homegrown nuclear deterrent to complement American atomic weapons following an erosion of trust in a Donald Trump-led US.”

Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin has issued the Kremlin’s reaction to these latest developments, asserting that the British ‘nuclear umbrella’ will fail to provide extra security to other NATO members.

The diplomat’s words were captured in an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia on Tuesday. Kelin described that it is “obvious that the British ‘nuclear umbrella’ will not be able to provide any additional material security guarantees” to Europe.

Moscow meanwhile continues to closely monitor the moves by “states pursuing an overtly anti-Russian policy” – he emphasized.

“The possibility of the expansion of nuclear safeguards will be taken into account in our military planning as well as in further discussions of the strategic stability issues,” the ambassador added.

Kelin then took a swipe at Britain’s hawkish stance in the context of the Ukraine war: “The strengthening of such potential apparently instills in London an illusory hope of leadership in ensuring European security,” he said.

Moscow’s growing concerns over British policy is in part related to plans to purchase a dozen F-35 fighter jets from the US, capable of carrying missiles tipped with nuclear warheads.

Additionally, when the tiny but outspoken Baltic states – directly on Russia’s doorstep – try to tout NATO ‘nuclear deterrent’ talking points, it seems natural that Moscow would be extremely concerned: 

Estonia isn’t ruling out joining early-stage talks on a common nuclear deterrent in Europe, Deputy Defense Minister Tuuli Duneton said in an interview. “We are always open to discuss” with partners, she said, while emphasizing the U.S. was still “committed to providing nuclear deterrence for allied nations.”

Latvia’s Prime Minister Evika Siliņa echoed that. “Nuclear deterrence can give us new opportunities. Why not?” she said, while cautioning that any steps would have to be in compliance with “our international commitments.”

NATO top leadership has still signaled no change in direction on the conventional US nuclear umbrella, however.

The United States nuclear umbrella, which has protected allies and cut down on the spread of nuclear weapons, is the “ultimate guarantor of freedom” in Europe, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says.

“The ultimate guarantor is the nuclear umbrella from the United States,” Rutte… pic.twitter.com/8GCU5oc4O6

— PBS News (@NewsHour) February 17, 2026

In the backdrop is the fact that that the landmark New START nuclear treaty between Washington and Moscow has ceased to exist as of this month. Russia is offering that it won’t expand its arsenal so long as the US does the same. But this is still dangerous, uncharted territory.

Via The Libertarian Institute 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced strong support for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán is seeking a fifth term as leader in the April election.

“I’m going to be very blunt with you. The prime minister and the President have a very, very close personal relationship and working relationship,” Rubio said in a press conference with Orbán on Monday.

“I think it has been incredibly beneficial to the relationship between our two countries, and it’s important to understand how important the relations between leaders are to the relations between countries.” He continued, “President Trump is deeply committed to your success.”

While Orbán has a strong relationship with President Donald Trump, he has been a roadblock to European leaders’ efforts to increase Western support for Ukraine. Hungary has used its position in NATO and the EU to slow or limit aid to Ukraine and the economic war against Russia.

Some EU members were attempting to use frozen Russian assets as collateral for a massive loan to Ukraine. Orbán was key to preventing the EU from moving forward with the loan.

Budapest has repeatedly expressed displeasure with Kiev over Ukraine’s disabling of the Russian pipeline that carries oil to Hungary. Hungary is now requesting that Croatia allow Russian oil transit to bypass Ukraine.

President Donald Trump has been willing to use his leverage to influence elections around the globe. In Argentina, he conditions a $20 billion assistance package on President Javier Milei’s party winning elections. The President has also voiced strong support or opposition to candidates in Honduras and Iraq.

Rubio told Orbán that Hungary could receive similar support as Argentina.

2019: Senator Rubio and others expressed concerns about Hungary’s “democratic erosion” and urged the Trump administration to address issues like the rule of law, media freedom, and corruption during meeting with Orbán.

2026: Secretary Rubio endorsed Orbán. pic.twitter.com/hQ4Ta69TY9

— Benjamin Alvarez (@BenjAlvarez1) February 16, 2026

“If you have financial struggles, if you face things that are impediments to growth, if you face things that threaten the stability of your country, I know that President Trump would be very interested because of your relationship with him and because of the importance of this country to us,” the Secretary of State said.

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The European Union has opened an in-depth investigation into online fashion retailer Shein over the sale of illegal items and what it calls the Chinese-owned platform’s “addictive design.”

The probe, announced on Feb. 16 by the European Commission, marks the bloc’s first formal proceeding against the company under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a set of sweeping online regulations that governs nearly all corners of the digital ecosystem, from e-commerce platforms to social media networks.

Brussels said it is investigating the sale of illegal products “including child sexual abuse material,” citing in particular child-like sex dolls that were found on Shein’s marketplace. The company came under scrutiny in France in late 2025 after authorities discovered lifelike sex dolls resembling young girls on the site, along with illegal weapons. The French government moved to suspend access to Shein’s website, but a court blocked the move and instead asked Brussels to step in under the DSA.

The controversy, EU officials said, exposed broader concerns about whether Shein poses “a systemic risk for consumers across the entire European Union.” They have asked the company to provide information on how it ensures that minors are not exposed to age-inappropriate content, as well as how it prevents the circulation of illegal products on its platform.

Investigators will also look into Shein’s “addictive design,” including the use of gamified features such as points, rewards, and other incentives for frequent engagement. EU officials have said that such designs may encourage excessive use, particularly among younger users, and undermine consumer protection and users’ mental well-being.

Another focus of the inquiry will be the alleged “lack of transparency” around the algorithms Shein uses to recommend content and products to users. Under the DSA, “very large platforms,” defined as those with over 45 million users in the EU, must disclose the main parameters of their recommender systems and offer at least one easily accessible option that is not based on profiling.

A spokesperson for Shein said the company takes its “obligations under the DSA seriously” and will cooperate with investigators.

“Over the last few months, we have continued to invest significantly in measures to strengthen our compliance with the DSA. These include comprehensive systemic-risk assessments and mitigation frameworks, enhanced protections for younger users, and ongoing work to design our services in ways that promote a safe and trusted user experience,” the spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

The investigation is the latest in a series of actions the EU has taken that affect Chinese-owned tech and e-commerce firms.

From July 1, 2026, Brussels will begin collecting a flat 3-euro (about $3.55) charge on each low-value item in small parcels worth under 150 euros (about $178) sent directly from non-EU countries to consumers in the bloc, a measure widely seen as aimed at platforms such as Shein, Temu, and AliExpress. According to official figures, about 4.6 billion such parcels entered the EU in 2024, an overwhelming 91 percent of them from China.

Temu is also under DSA investigation over alleged “addictive design” and the sale of unsafe or illegal goods. A separate probe into AliExpress, owned by China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba, produced preliminary findings that the platform is “in breach of its obligation to assess and mitigate risks related to the dissemination of illegal products under the DSA.”

More recently, on Feb. 6, the commission warned popular video-sharing platform TikTok that it must overhaul its “addictive design” to comply with the DSA. The service, whose European operations are owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, could face a fine of up to 6 percent of its global revenue if it fails to address those concerns.

“In the EU, illegal products are prohibited—whether they are on a store shelf or on an online marketplace. The Digital Services Act keeps shoppers safe, protects their well-being and empowers them with information about the algorithms they are interacting with,” Henna Virkkunen, the EU tech commissioner, said on Feb. 17.

Chinese authorities have been critical of EU efforts to tighten digital regulations. In January, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the EU of “blatant protectionism” and “political manipulation” after the bloc, citing risks of cyberattacks, recommended that all member states remove Huawei and ZTE from their telecom networks within the next three years.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) quietly launched an independent review earlier this month into its CEO, Børge Brende, over his past interactions with Jeffrey Epstein, Bloomberg reports.

Files released by the Department of Justice show Epstein and Brende had three dinners in 2018 and 2019, and exchanged various text messages. One dinner occurred in September 2018, more than a decade after Epstein’s 2008 conviction and guilty plea in Florida for procuring a child for prostitution, and another on June 13, 2019, shortly before Epstein’s final arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Like many powerful figures, Brende has claimed that he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal history at the time of their meetings, and is said to have ordered the probe into his communications with Epstein.

“I was completely unaware of Epstein’s past and criminal activities,” Brende said in a statement to Bloomberg. “Had I known about his background, I would have declined the initial invitation and any subsequent dinner invitations or other communications.”

“I recognize that I could have conducted a more thorough investigation into Epstein’s history, and I regret not doing so,” he added.

Klaus Schwab, who founded the WEF in 1971, has maintained that he is “certain” that he never met with Epstein, a press representative told Bloomberg.

Beyond Brende’s direct contacts, the released files highlight Epstein’s broader efforts to leverage the prestige of the WEF’s annual Davos meeting. Despite reportedly claiming to “hate” the Forum in private, Epstein positioned himself as a self-described “Davos concierge” to facilitate access for his associates.

For instance, in late 2009, months after his release from Florida incarceration, Epstein corresponded with Boris Nikolic, an immunologist and regular Davos attendee, offering to arrange one-on-one meetings. “I can organize a 1:1 meeting with most people there. One ‘virtual currency’ I have is access ;),” Epstein wrote while sharing a participant list, according to Bloomberg.

In 2011, Nikolic turned to Epstein for help securing time with Bill Gates, lamenting the difficulty of reaching the billionaire. Epstein suggested pitching Gates on attending a dinner, listing potential attendees, and signed off as “your truly, the davos concierge.”

UK broadcaster Channel 4 News reported that the Justice Department has so far released 3.5 million files, amounting to more than 300 GB, representing roughly only 2 percent of the total data volume that investigators referenced as recently as last year. Internal emails indicating that federal investigators expected to handle between 20 and 40 terabytes of data seized from Epstein’s properties, the report said.

Earlier estimates from 2020 put the total volume of files at up to 50 terabytes. More recently, in 2025, officials referred to approximately 14.6 terabytes of archived data under review.

The release of additional Epstein-related documents by the Department of Justice continues to draw attention to a range of high-profile individuals from business and politics, whose names appear in the files.

Thomas J. Pritzker, the longtime executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, announced his immediate retirement on Monday and confirmed he will not seek re-election to the company’s board.

In a statement to the board and released publicly, Pritzker expressed regret over his past association with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Pritzker described maintaining contact as “terrible judgment” and acknowledged there was no excuse for not distancing himself sooner.

“I condemn the actions and the harm caused by Epstein and Maxwell, and I feel deep sorrow for the pain they inflicted on their victims,” he added.

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

An analysis released by Google this month showed that the U.S. defense industrial base—a network of public and private entities used to develop or maintain military weapons systems—has sustained cyberattacks from groups and criminal organizations from China, Russia, and North Korea in recent months.

The report, released on Feb. 10 by Google Threat Intelligence, found that the Chinese regime and associated groups continue “to represent by volume the most active threat to entities in the defense industrial base,” which it said can pose “significant risk to the defense and aerospace sector.”

Google’s report added that it “has observed more China-nexus cyber espionage missions directly targeting defense and aerospace industry than from any other state-sponsored actors over the last two years,” as such groups have “used a broad range of tactics in operations.”

“But the hallmark of many operations has been their exploitation of edge devices to gain initial access,” it said, referring to hardware components positioned at the edge of a network.

“We have also observed China-nexus threat groups leverage ORB networks for reconnaissance against defense industrial targets, which complicates detection and attribution.”

Late last year, Canadian and U.S. officials warned that Chinese state-backed hacking groups have targeted U.S. government entities and private companies, gaining long-term access to their systems.

In July 2025, Microsoft also warned it had observed two China-based hacking groups, Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, using vulnerabilities in SharePoint, Microsoft’s collaboration software.

As for Russia, Google said in its report that groups associated with Moscow have focused on defense companies that support technologies used in the Russia–Ukraine war, namely companies linked to drones.

“As next-generation capabilities are being operationalized in this environment, Russia-nexus threat actors and hacktivists are seeking to compromise defense contractors alongside military assets and systems, with a focus on organizations involved with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS),” the tech giant said.

“This includes targeting defense companies directly, using themes mimicking their products and systems in intrusions against military organizations and personnel.”

State-sponsored hackers, meanwhile, have leveraged Google’s own AI tool, Gemini, during cyberattacks, it found.

One Chinese-linked organization known as “UNC2970” has frequently targeted defense companies and impersonated corporate recruiters in hacking campaigns, Google said.

They’ve used Gemini to conduct open-source intelligence to “profile high-value targets to support campaign planning and reconnaissance,” including searches for relevant information on defense and cybersecurity companies, it said.

The threat posed by North Korea has grown since 2019 as officials in the regime have attempted to pose as IT workers to apply for jobs at defense-related organizations, Google said.

Last July, the Department of Justice announced it had disrupted an operation that included searches of 29 locations in more than a dozen states suspected of being connected to laptops used, in part, to obtain remote jobs at more than 100 American companies.

In one instance, North Korea-linked actors stole sensitive data from a California defense company that was involved in AI development, according to Google.

In a separate incident, a Maryland-based individual was sentenced to 15 months in prison for facilitating a North Korean-linked scheme and coordinating with an alleged regime IT worker. The person, Minh Phuong Ngoc Vong, was hired by a Virginia-based company to perform software development for a defense contractor, it added.

A Kansas woman has been sentenced to federal prison after admitting she fabricated claims that astronaut Anne McClain accessed her bank account from orbit, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Summer Heather Worden, 51, of Sedgwick County, Kansas, pleaded guilty on November 14, 2025, to making false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements to law enforcement, according to KBTX.

Alfred H. Bennett sentenced her to three months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered her to pay $210,000 in restitution.

Worden had alleged in July 2019 that her estranged spouse guessed her password and illegally viewed her account while stationed aboard the International Space Station. Court evidence later established the accusation was unfounded. Records showed Worden opened the account in April 2018 and that both women used it until January 2019, when she changed the login information. Investigators determined she had shared access to her banking details, including credentials, as early as 2015.

KBTX writes that even after an internal review cleared McClain, Worden continued promoting the allegations in the media, hired a consultant to amplify them, and publicly disclosed her former spouse’s personal information.

“This case demonstrates the serious consequences of making false accusations to law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

The case was investigated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard D. Hanes and Brandon Fyffe prosecuted it. Worden remains free on bond and is expected to report voluntarily to a facility designated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Authored by Emily Arthun via RealClearEnergy,

When Winter Storm Fern swept across much of the United States in mid-January 2026—bringing snow, ice, and sustained sub-zero temperatures from Texas to New England—millions of Americans braced for power outages. In some areas, those fears were realized. Tennessee alone reported more than 245,000 customer outages at peak conditions. At the same time, natural gas prices spiked dramatically, exceeding $30 per MMBtu at certain constrained delivery points within the PJM Interconnection.

Yet despite the severity and duration of the storm, the national electric grid largely held. Hospitals remained open. Emergency services stayed online. Most homes stayed warm. That outcome was not accidental. It was the result of dependable, dispatchable generation—chief among it, coal.

During the coldest days of the storm, coal-fired generation across the Lower 48 surged, rising from roughly 70 gigawatt-hours per day to approximately 130. That additional generation represented a massive increase in available power at precisely the moment when electric heating demand spiked and system margins tightened. In practical terms, coal generation helped keep power flowing to tens of millions of households nationwide, sustaining heat and essential services during the most extreme conditions of Winter Storm Fern.

Coal plants responded exactly as they are designed to do: steadily, predictably, and at scale. In the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region, coal supplied as much as 40% of electricity during peak hours. In PJM, coal accounted for roughly one-quarter of total generation. These were not marginal contributions—they were foundational to grid stability.

The contrast with weather-dependent resources was unmistakable. Wind generation declined as turbines iced over or were curtailed for safety. Solar output fell sharply as panels were covered by snow and daylight hours shortened. Hydropower faced limitations from frozen waterways and constrained inflows. Each of these resources plays a role in the broader energy mix, but Winter Storm Fern underscored their limitations during prolonged, widespread cold.

Coal’s advantage in these moments is straightforward: on-site fuel. Stockpiled coal insulated power plants from supply chain disruptions at precisely the moment when other fuels faced constraints. This is not a theoretical benefit. It is a practical one that has been demonstrated repeatedly during extreme weather events.

That lesson should sound familiar. After Winter Storm Uri in 2021, coal was often blamed for grid failures. Subsequent analyses showed the most significant disruptions stemmed from widespread natural gas system freeze-offs—not coal plant performance. In the years since, coal facilities invested in winterization, fuel access, and operational readiness. During Winter Storm Fern, those preparations paid off.

Federal policymakers recognized this reality in real time. The U.S. Department of Energy issued emergency orders under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, temporarily allowing certain coal units to operate at higher output to maintain grid stability. Similar actions in 2025 prevented the premature retirement of coal plants in Colorado, Indiana, Washington, and Michigan—preserving more than 17 gigawatts of firm coal capacity that otherwise faced near-term shutdown.

These decisions were not ideological. They were driven by reliability.

Warnings from grid authorities reinforce the point. The Department of Energy and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation have both cautioned that continued coal retirements—without equivalent replacement by firm, dispatchable resources—increase the risk of outages, particularly during extreme winter conditions. At the same time, electricity demand is rising rapidly due to data centers, electrification, and industrial growth. The margin for error is shrinking.

Coal is not static. Modern coal plants operate with advanced emissions controls, improved efficiency, and increasingly sophisticated monitoring. Mining practices have evolved, and research into carbon management and advanced coal technologies continues. Coal also remains essential for steelmaking and other industrial uses, making domestic production a matter of economic and strategic importance.

Affordability matters as much as reliability. Regions that retired coal prematurely have often experienced higher electricity prices and greater exposure to fuel volatility. Coal’s stable fuel costs and on-site inventory provide a measure of price certainty that consumers increasingly lack—especially during weather emergencies, when energy costs hit household budgets the hardest.

Winter Storm Fern delivered a clear message. When the grid was under maximum stress, coal did not merely contribute—it carried a substantial share of the load. A resilient energy strategy does not eliminate reliable resources before dependable replacements are ready. It builds a diversified generation portfolio that includes coal, natural gas, nuclear, and emerging technologies, each performing the role it does best.

America’s energy future depends on reliability first. During one of the harshest winter tests in recent years, coal proved once again that it remains an essential part of keeping the lights on—and the heat running.

Emily Arthun is current CEO of the American Coal Council, she brings over twenty years of experience across the coal and hard-rock mining sectors  Prior to her role at ACC, she worked with the Women’s Mining Coalition, supporting advocacy for domestic mining. Her industry experience includes Stillwater Mining Company and Cloud Peak Energy.  She serves on the Washington Coal Club and Women’s Mining Coalition boards.