President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday with the aim of reviving the coal-power industry as part of the administration’s efforts to lower energy prices, boost power supply, and stabilize the national grid.
The order follows the president’s promises to support the industry, both in his first administration and his current presidency. Just last month, Trump said he was authorizing his administration to produce energy with “beautiful, clean coal.”
“Pound for pound, coal is the single most reliable, durable, secure, and powerful form of energy,” Trump said Tuesday afternoon, claiming the power source is also cheap, efficient, high density and nearly “indestructible.”
“The value of untapped coal in our country is 100 times greater than the value of all the gold at Fort Knox, and we’re going to unleash it and make America rich and powerful again,” the president said.
As part of the order, the president directed the National Energy Dominance Council, led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, to designate coal as a “mineral” under his executive order issued last month that was aimed at increasing domestic mineral production.
The president also directed relevant agencies to prioritize leasing for coal mining on federal lands, end Obama-era coal leasing moratoriums, and directed the Council on Environmental Quality to adopt coal-related categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act, meaning that projects can move forward without going through lengthy environmental reviews.
“In order to secure America’s economic prosperity and national security, lower the cost of living, and provide for increases in electrical demand from emerging technologies, we must increase domestic energy production, including coal,” the order reads.
Trump also is moving to require all agencies to remove any agency policies aimed at transitioning away from coal production and has called on Energy Secretary Chris Wright to determine if coal used in steel production can be classified as a critical material and critical mineral.
The executive order will also push for the use of coal energy to power artificial intelligence advancements, in order to help meet the growing demand for energy driven by AI data centers and domestic manufacturing.
Additionally, the multi-part executive order instructs the Department of Justice to investigate state laws and policies the administration says discriminate against coal. This includes any laws focused on addressing “climate change,” “environmental justice,” “greenhouse gas” emissions, carbon, and more.
“The Attorney General shall expeditiously take all appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State laws and continuation of civil actions identified…that the Attorney General determines to be illegal,” the order reads.
Reviving coal is a difficult task. The industry did not come roaring back during the president’s first administration.
The use of coal power has dramatically decreased in the U.S. since the first Trump presidency, facing competition from both renewables and natural gas, as well as regulatory pressure. Coal is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.
One major obstacle to boosting coal power production, though, is that any deregulatory measure meant to facilitate the use of coal is also likely to benefit natural gas, meaning that coal will not get a leg up.
Though, there has been more of an acceptance within the technology and manufacturing sectors to embrace existing coal production to meet growing energy demands, as renewables and other alternative energy sources still lack the necessary infrastructure to keep up.
Data centers are expected to dominate the growth in energy consumption in the coming years, consuming upward of 84 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, according to projections from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Tuesday’s executive order underscores the administration’s priorities in securing as much reliable baseload power as quickly as possible as Congress weighs permitting reform that could create a pathway for getting more electricity pumped onto the grid faster.
OIL PRICES CONTINUE TO DROP, TOEING $60 LINE
The administration has taken several other steps to prepare the coal industry for recovery, with the Department of Interior and Environmental Protection Agency offering new emergency leases for coal mining on federal lands and exemptions from clean air regulations, respectively.
Additionally, Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as the Just Energy Transition Partnerships, an international agreement designed to help developing countries transition from fossil fuel sources such as coal to cleaner alternatives.
