On Tuesday, President Trump signed four executive orders aimed at expanding coal mining and use in the United States to revive the struggling industry.
Trump, adjacent to dozens of miners wearing hard white hats in White House, said he has directed the Justice Department to identify and fight the state's policies and regulations “letting coal miners go out of business.”
He added that future administrations will “ensure” that they will not be able to adopt policies that are harmful to coal. “We're going to ensure that businesses won't end due to the ups and downs of the political world,” Trump said, but he didn't provide details.
The order directs federal agencies to remove barriers to coal leasing and mining, loosen environmental reviews of coal projects, and investigate whether coal-fired power generation can power new AI data centers. They called for accelerated permission and funding for new coal projects. And they directed that federal lands be opened to more mining.
“This is a very important day for me, because we are reclaiming an abandoned industry despite the fact that it is the best and certainly the best in terms of power, true power,” Trump said.
Over the past few weeks, Trump, energy secretary Chris Wright and interior secretary Doug Burgham have all been talking about the importance of coal. The two cabinet members sat in the front row of the White House ceremony. Members of the Wyoming, West Virginia, Congress were attended at the White House ceremony.
“Beautiful and beautiful coal,” Trump told the gathering. “Never use the word “coal” unless you place “clean, clean” before that. ”
Coal is the most polluted of all fossil fuels when burned, making up about 40% of the world's industrial carbon dioxide emissions, a major factor in global warming. It releases other contaminants, including mercury and sulfur dioxide, associated with heart disease, respiratory problems, and early death.
Over the past 20 years, coal use has declined sharply in the US, with utilities switching to cheaper, cleaner power sources, such as natural gas, wind and solar. That transition has been the biggest reason for US emissions decline since 2005.
It is unclear how much Trump will reverse that decline. In 2011, the country generated almost half of its electricity from coal. Last year, it fell to just 15%. The utility has already closed hundreds of aged coal burning units, and has announced the retirement dates for about half of the remaining plants.
Over the past year, growing interest in artificial intelligence and data centers has driven a surge in electricity demand, with some utilities having decided to keep at least some coal plants open past their scheduled closing date. And as the Trump administration moves and relaxes coal pollution restrictions, including regulations that apply to coal carbon and mercury, more plants may remain open longer or run more frequently.
During discussions on coal plants last month, Burgham said: “These are clean coal plants and the most regulated segment in the energy industry. We praise them for whether they need to be kept open because they are still open.”
According to some analysts, a massive coal revival is unlikely.
“The main problem is that most of our coal plants are older, more expensive to operate, and no one is thinking about building new plants,” said Seth Feaster, a data analyst focusing on coal at the research firm, Energy Economics Analysis Institute. “It's very difficult to change that trajectory.”
During his first term, Trump proposed using emergency powers to force uneconomic coal plants to remain open rather than resigning. However, the idea caused a severe blow from oil and gas companies, electric grid operators and consumer groups, and the administration abandoned the idea.
Ultimately, Trump struggled to fulfill his first term pledge to save the coal industry. His administration abolished numerous climate regulations, appointed coal lobbyists to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, 75 coal-fired power plants were closed, and the industry lost around 13,000 jobs during its presidency.
The decline of coal continued under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who tried to completely move the country away from fossil fuels to combat climate change. Last year, his administration issued a swept EPA rule that would force all coal plants across the country to be captured and buried or closed by 2039.
When he returned to the office this year, Trump ordered the EPA to repeal the rules. And Trump administration officials have repeatedly warned that closing coal plants would reduce the country's grid's reliability. Unlike wind and solar power, coal plants can run all the time, making them useful when electricity demands spikes.
“We are on a path to continually shrinking the electricity we generate from coal,” Wright told Bloomberg Television in February. “It made electricity more expensive and our grids have reduced stability.”
Some industry executives who run the country's electricity grid have warned that coal plants too fast could increase the risk of blackouts, especially as utilities are lagging behind bringing new gas, wind and solar power plants online and adding battery storage and transmission lines.
But coal opponents say maintaining aged plants online can bring sudden costs. Earlier this year, the PJM Interconnect, which oversees a large grid in the Mid-Atlantic, burned coal-burning power plants and the opening until 2029, leaving them open until 2029 to reduce the risk of retirement benefits. The move could ultimately cost utility customers in regions that cost more than $720 million.
“Coal plants are old, dirty, uncompetitive and unreliable,” said Kit Kennedy, power managing director for the Environmental Group's Natural Resources Defense Council. “The Trump administration has been stuck in the past and is trying to make utility customers pay more for yesterday's energy. Instead, they should do everything they can to build the power grid of the future.”
