Environmentalists and local residents oppose a border wall plan that would go through Big Bend NP in Texas. The Trump regime waived environmental protections and awarded a $1.7 billion contract to build it anyway.

https://www.texastribune.org/2026/05/15/texas-big-bend-border-wall-contract-awarded-billion/

U.S. Customs and Border Protection awarded a $1.7 billion federal contract listed for border wall construction in the Big Bend region, fueling public confusion over the project after a previous assurance from a top agency official that no barriers would be built at the region’s national park.

Opponents of wall construction in the region have seen their frustrations with the project mount as communication from the Trump administration about the project has been limited, and there have been few formal announcements about plans in the area.

"We obviously, at this point, don’t trust anything, but it’s like a roller coaster,” said Lico Miller, a business owner in Terlingua, a small, rural town a few miles west of Big Bend National Park.

"They have made it a mission to obfuscate and make this as confusing of a process as possible,” said Laiken Jordahl, National Public Lands Advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Construction crews working on Trump's border wall destroyed a large, ancient geoglyph in Arizona’s Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.

"This is an irreplaceable piece of human history that’s been permanently scarred."

The Trump administration issued a series of waivers to bypass protections normally required under law.

Center for Biological Diversity

New Photos, Videos Show Border Wall Construction Damage t...

AJO, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity released new video footage and photographs today documenting recent damage from border wall construction to the Las Playas Intaglio, an ancient fish-sha

21 hours ago, toolg said:

Construction crews working on Trump's border wall destroyed a large, ancient geoglyph in Arizona’s Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.

The Trump administration issued a series of waivers to bypass protections normally required under law.

Center for Biological Diversity

New Photos, Videos Show Border Wall Construction Damage t...

AJO, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity released new video footage and photographs today documenting recent damage from border wall construction to the Las Playas Intaglio, an ancient fish-sha

white America first!

8 hours ago, toolg said:

That’s a deliberately misleading community note. The reason it is cheaper than electricity from NEW gas and coal plants is because we (i) the plants require massive capital investment and (ii) environmental regulations have made building new plants, especially coal, economically impossible by design. However, electricity produced by EXISTING coal plants is still the cheapest - studies add amorphous costs for pollution to try and skew things. There’s a reason coal still produces the most electricity globally and is still growing.

5 hours ago, vikas83 said:

That’s a deliberately misleading community note. The reason it is cheaper than electricity from NEW gas and coal plants is because we (i) the plants require massive capital investment and (ii) environmental regulations have made building new plants, especially coal, economically impossible by design. However, electricity produced by EXISTING coal plants is still the cheapest - studies add amorphous costs for pollution to try and skew things. There’s a reason coal still produces the most electricity globally and is still growing.

Not cheaper than nuclear

6 hours ago, vikas83 said:

The reason it is cheaper than electricity from NEW gas and coal plants is because we (i) the plants require massive capital investment and (ii) environmental regulations have made building new plants, especially coal, economically impossible by design. However, electricity produced by EXISTING coal plants is still the cheapest - studies add amorphous costs for pollution to try and skew things.

The cost of cleaning up environmental damage should absolutely be factored in.

11 hours ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Not cheaper than nuclear

Fair enough though they are closer than people realize.

2 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Fair enough though they are closer than people realize.

Coal is not cheaper than solar. Not even without the ITC. Not sure where you got your info from.

13 minutes ago, barho said:

Coal is not cheaper than solar. Not even without the ITC. Not sure where you got your info from.

Actual data when considering existing plants and the actual costs of generating electricity. I am involved in the industry.

17 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Actual data when considering existing plants and the actual costs of generating electricity. I am involved in the industry.

You’re wrong

LCOE for utility scale solar projects have a range of $38 to $78 per MWh. Existing coal is $31 to $114 per MWh. While existing coal is competitive in some markets still more expensive compared to solar in most markets.

I too am in the industry

But I am in no way saying you don’t need fossi fuels. We are nowhere near that point with renewables and not sure we ever will be.

15 minutes ago, barho said:

You’re wrong

LCOE for utility scale solar projects have a range of $38 to $78 per MWh. Existing coal is $31 to $114 per MWh. While existing coal is competitive in some markets still more expensive compared to solar in most markets.

I too am in the industry

Coal is more like 25-45, but markets have spiked recently due to Iran. The demand from Asia is growing rapidly.

The context of the original tweet was Trump threatening to impose some sort of ban on all new plants using wind or solar. Which, of course, is stupid if the implication is that those new plants would instead have to burn coal or natural gas. Like barho said, both renewables and non-renewables have their place, and the costs of storage for renewables (except hydro) need to be factored in when applicable, like in cases when it's not for smaller scale supplemental generation needs.

But setting environmental issues aside, renewables are much safer from an operational standpoint (and coal mining is also dangerous). And overall costs are trending downward for PV solar over time due to efficiency gains. A decade or two from now, the use cases for building a coal plant will be far and few between.

16 hours ago, we_gotta_believe said:

The context of the original tweet was Trump threatening to impose some sort of ban on all new plants using wind or solar. Which, of course, is stupid if the implication is that those new plants would instead have to burn coal or natural gas. Like barho said, both renewables and non-renewables have their place, and the costs of storage for renewables (except hydro) need to be factored in when applicable, like in cases when it's not for smaller scale supplemental generation needs.

But setting environmental issues aside, renewables are much safer from an operational standpoint (and coal mining is also dangerous). And overall costs are trending downward for PV solar over time due to efficiency gains. A decade or two from now, the use cases for building a coal plant will be far and few between.

Coal for electricity generation is all but dead and has been for years. Nat gas is far better and nearly as cheap now and is far more dispensable compared with coal. Gas peakers have been around for ages and can be paced just about anywhere to feed load. Data centers are planning to use them in large numbers.

11 hours ago, barho said:

Coal for electricity generation is all but dead and has been for years. Nat gas is far better and nearly as cheap now and is far more dispensable compared with coal. Gas peakers have been around for ages and can be paced just about anywhere to feed load. Data centers are planning to use them in large numbers.

Dead for years yet still the number 1 global electricity source. And worldwide consumption rose year over year.