> At present, the bare economics of it, without any subsidies, put solar as the most cost-effective new power capacity to add.

Not just more cost-effective for new power.

The operating expenses for a given coal plant are greater than the buildout cost for the equivalent solar+battery plant.

It no longer makes financial sense for coal plants to continue existing in almost all cases. This isn't some environmentalism thing, it's strictly hard math. Fossil energy is no longer viable without taxpayers keeping it on life support.