Winding up on the naughty list usually means one thing: a lump of Santa’s coal in your stocking. Santa Claus is coming to town, and he would need to bring tons (like, literal tons) of expensive, polluting coal for Trump and all his billionaire cronies on the naughty list.

But the problem is, they love coal. They want more coal. Why? Because more coal means more profit for them. But for the rest of us, more coal means higher energy bills and dirtier air.  And that’s one reason Trump and his Big Polluter buddies are on the naughty list in the first place.

How do we tell Santa that his centuries-old tradition is set to backfire this year? Keep reading to find out.

Why does Santa bring coal to people (like Trump) on the naughty list?

For centuries, Santa Claus has delivered lumps of coal to people who have been naughty. But, why coal?

To us, it’s obvious: coal is the most polluting source of energy, and burning it hurts our health and the environment. It is also incredibly expensive, and using it to fuel our grid drives up energy costs for people on both the naughty and nice lists. Worsening health, a more polluted environment, and higher electric bills? Makes sense why Santa would give coal to the bad guys!

Trump’s coal agenda is at odds with Santa’s coal punishments

But this year, Trump and his fossil-fuel-loving cronies are throwing a wrench in Santa’s coal distribution plans.

They’ve clearly been bad. To boost Trump’s coal agenda, they’ve canceled clean energy projects and tax credits, and forced obsolete coal plants to stay open, including one just this week. As a result, the Trump administration has increased our energy bills by 13% since taking office, nearly four times the rate of inflation. High energy bills are driving people into debt and forcing them to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table.

The administration has also rolled back protections that save people money and contribute to clean air and water, like efficiency standards for microwaves, air filters, cooktops, dishwashers and other appliances and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for cars and trucks. And, they’re doing all of this for one reason: to increase profits for oil, gas, and coal executives – most of whom (conveniently) also contributed to Trump’s campaign.

You see the dilemma.

Obviously, Trump and his buddies deserve coal in their stockings. But, because they are so beholden to the coal industry and pulling us back into the dark ages, it’s not the punishment Santa wants it to be. This year, Santa needs to give Trump something he’ll really hate (but will benefit the rest of us): clean energy. 

From Santa’s coal to clean energy

Clearly, Santa can’t give people on the naughty list exactly what they want. He has to give them something they’ll hate. And there’s nothing the Trump administration hates more than affordable clean energy. Even better, deploying clean energy will benefit the rest of us on the nice list by decreasing pollution in our air and water and curbing skyrocketing energy bills.

This year, tell Santa (and your members of Congress): stop increasing costs and support clean energy!