- USA re-adding coal to it’s utilities alongside Natural Gas, Wind & Solar Power.
- Coal Leasing & Mining, federal agencies to remove barriers
- Power A.I. Data Centers, Loosen environmental reviews of coal projects; explore how coal-fired electricity provide power
- Accelerate permitting and funding for coal projects.
- Coal is designated as a mineral
- 30 days to plan, 90 to initiate action
ORDERS ARE:
- “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241”
- “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach”
- “Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid”
COAL 2025-04-09 10-23-22; As quoted, reference sources list.
“This is a very important day to me because we’re bringing back an industry that was abandoned despite the fact that it was the best, certainly the best in terms of power, real power,” Mr. Trump said.
President Trump has signed three executive orders to bolster America’s energy sector, with a spotlight on coal: “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241”, “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach”, and “Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid”. He’s doubling down on a fuel he calls the best for “real power”—but can it stage a comeback? Here’s what’s at stake.
Trump’s Vision: Coal’s Comeback
“This is a very important day to me because we’re bringing back an industry that was abandoned despite the fact that it was the best, certainly the best in terms of power, real power,” Trump said as he signed the orders. The move comes as artificial intelligence and data centers have fueled a surge in electricity demand over the past year. Some utilities, facing this crunch, have opted to keep coal plants open past scheduled closures. Trump’s administration is now loosening pollution limits—think carbon dioxide and mercury—potentially letting more plants stay online longer or run more often.
Last month, Mr. Burgum—presumably a key ally—backed this push: “These are clean coal plants, they’ve been the most regulated segment of our energy industry. I applaud them if they’re still open and we need them to stay open.”
The Reality Check: Coal’s Uphill Battle
Not everyone’s optimistic. Seth Feaster, a coal-focused data analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said, “The main issue is that most of our coal plants are older and getting more expensive to run, and no one’s thinking about building new plants. It’s very hard to change that trajectory.” Analysts argue a major coal revival seems unlikely, despite Trump’s enthusiasm. Aging infrastructure and rising costs could cap any resurgence.
Coal’s Rocky Past
Trump struggled to fulfill his first-term pledge to rescue coal. Despite repealing numerous climate regulations and appointing a coal lobbyist to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, 75 coal-fired power plants closed, and the industry shed about 13,000 jobs during his presidency. The decline persisted under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who aimed to phase out fossil fuels to combat climate change. Last year, Biden’s administration issued a sweeping E.P.A. rule forcing all U.S. coal plants to either capture and bury carbon dioxide emissions or shut down by 2039.
Grid Risks: Why Coal Lingers
Some industry executives running the nation’s electric grids have warned that retiring coal plants too fast could spike blackout risks. Power companies have faced delays in rolling out new gas, wind, and solar plants, plus battery storage and transmission lines. Earlier this year, PJM Interconnection, which manages a large Mid-Atlantic grid, ordered a coal-burning plant and an oil-burning one to stay open until 2029—four years past their planned retirement—to avoid outages. That decision could cost utility customers more than $720 million.
The Flip Side: Costs of Clinging to Coal
Coal opponents highlight steep downsides to keeping aging plants alive. Beyond the $720 million tab for PJM customers, there’s the environmental toll—looser pollution rules could mean dirtier air and water. Critics argue the price of propping up coal outweighs the benefits, especially as cleaner alternatives lag but grow.
What’s Next?
Trump’s orders aim to rewrite coal’s story—reviving an industry he sees as “beautiful” and shielding it from state overreach while fortifying the grid. Will it deliver “real power” or just higher bills and risks? The debate’s heating up as demand soars and old plants creak along.
EXECUTIVE ORDER READS:
“Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241
Executive Orders | April 8th, 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. 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. Coal is abundant and cost effective, and can be used in any weather condition. Moreover, the industry has historically employed hundreds of thousands of Americans. America’s coal resources are vast, with a current estimated value in the trillions of dollars, and are more than capable of substantially contributing to American energy independence with excess to export to support allies and our economic competitiveness. Our Nation’s beautiful clean coal resources will be critical to meeting the rise in electricity demand due to the resurgence of domestic manufacturing and the construction of artificial intelligence data processing centers. We must encourage and support our Nation’s coal industry to increase our energy supply, lower electricity costs, stabilize our grid, create high-paying jobs, support burgeoning industries, and assist our allies.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States that coal is essential to our national and economic security. It is a national priority to support the domestic coal industry by removing Federal regulatory barriers that undermine coal production, encouraging the utilization of coal to meet growing domestic energy demands, increasing American coal exports, and ensuring that Federal policy does not discriminate against coal production or coal-fired electricity generation.
Sec. 3. Strengthening Our National Energy Security. The Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) shall designate coal as a “mineral” as defined in section 2 of Executive Order 14241 of March 20, 2025 (Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production), thereby entitling coal to all the benefits of a “mineral” under that order. Further, Executive Order 14241 is hereby amended by deleting the reference to “4332(d)(1)(B)” in section 6(d) of that order and replacing it with a reference to “4532(d)(1)(B)”.
Sec. 4. Assessing Coal Resources and Accessibility on Federal Lands. (a) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Energy shall submit a consolidated report to the President through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy that identifies coal resources and reserves on Federal lands, assesses impediments to mining such coal resources, and proposes policies to address such impediments and ultimately enable the mining of such coal resources by either private or public actors.
(b) The Secretary of Energy shall include in the report described in subsection (a) of this section an analysis of the impact that the availability of the coal resources identified could have on electricity costs and grid reliability.
Sec. 5. Lifting Barriers to Coal Mining on Federal Lands. (a) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall prioritize coal leasing and related activities, consistent with applicable law, as the primary land use for the public lands with coal resources identified in the report described in section 4(a) of this order and expedite coal leasing in these areas, including by utilizing such emergency authorities as are available to them and identifying opportunities to provide for expedited environmental reviews, consistent with applicable law.
(b) The Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to the authorities in the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended and supplemented (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands of 1947, as amended (30 U.S.C. 351-359), and the Multiple Mineral Development Act of 1954 (30 U.S.C. 521-531 et seq.), shall acknowledge the end of the Jewell Moratorium by ordering the publication of a notice in the Federal Register terminating the “Environmental Impact Statement Analyzing the Potential Environmental Effects from Maintaining Secretary Jewell’s Coal Leasing Moratorium”, and process royalty rate reduction applications from Federal coal lessees in as expeditious a manner as permitted by applicable law.
Sec. 6. Supporting American Coal as an Energy Source. (a) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall identify any guidance, regulations, programs, and policies within their respective executive department or agency that seek to transition the Nation away from coal production and electricity generation.
(b) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the heads of all relevant executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall consider revising or rescinding Federal actions identified in subsection (a) of this section consistent with applicable law.
(c) Agencies that are empowered to make loans, loan guarantees, grants, equity investments, or to conclude offtake agreements, both domestically and abroad, shall, to the extent permitted by law, take steps to rescind any policies or regulations seeking to or that actually discourage investment in coal production and coal-fired electricity generation, such as the 2021 U.S. Treasury Fossil Fuel Energy Guidance for Multilateral Development Banks rescinded by the Department of the Treasury and similar policies or regulations.
(d) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Chief Executive Officer of the International Development Finance Corporation, the President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and the heads of all other agencies that have discretionary programs that provide, facilitate, or advocate for financing of energy projects shall review their charters, regulations, guidance, policies, international agreements, analytical models and internal bureaucratic processes to ensure that such materials do not discourage the agency from financing coal mining projects and electricity generation projects. Consistent with law, and subject to the applicable agency head’s discretion, where appropriate, any identified preferences against coal use shall immediately be eliminated except as explicitly provided for in statute.
Sec. 7. Supporting American Coal Exports. The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Energy, the United States Trade Representative, the Assistant to the President for National Security, and the heads of other relevant agencies, shall take all necessary and appropriate actions to promote and identify export opportunities for coal and coal technologies and facilitate international offtake agreements for United States coal.
Sec. 8. Expanding Use of Categorical Exclusions for Coal Under the National Environmental Policy Act. Within 30 days of the date of this order, each agency shall identify to the Council on Environmental Quality any existing and potential categorical exclusions pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, increased reliance on and adoption of which by other agencies pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 4336c could further the production and export of coal.
Sec. 9. Steel Dominance. (a) The Secretary of Energy, pursuant to the authority under the Energy Act of 2020 (the “Act”), shall determine whether coal used in the production of steel meets the definition of a “critical material” under the Act and, if so, shall take steps to place it on the Department of Energy Critical Materials List.
(b) The Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to the authority under the Act, shall determine whether metallurgical coal used in the production of steel meets the criteria to be designated as a “critical mineral” under the Act and, if so, shall take steps to place coal on the Department of the Interior Critical Minerals List.
Sec. 10. Powering Artificial Intelligence Data Centers. (a) For the purposes of this order, “artificial intelligence” or “AI” has the meaning set forth in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3).
(b) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Energy shall identify regions where coal-powered infrastructure is available and suitable for supporting AI data centers; assess the market, legal, and technological potential for expanding coal-based infrastructure to power data centers to meet the electricity needs of AI and high-performance computing operations; and submit a consolidated summary report with their findings and proposals to the Chair of the NEDC, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto.
Sec. 11. Acceleration of Coal Technology.
(a) The Secretary of Energy shall take all necessary actions, consistent with applicable law, to accelerate the development, deployment, and commercialization of coal technologies including, but not limited to, utilizing all available funding mechanisms to support the expansion of coal technology, including technologies that utilize coal and coal byproducts such as building materials, battery materials, carbon fiber, synthetic graphite, and printing materials, as well as updating coal feedstock for power generation and steelmaking.
(b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy shall submit a detailed action plan to the President through the Chair of the NEDC outlining the funding mechanisms, programs, and policy actions taken to accelerate coal technology deployment.
Sec. 12. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
“
EXECUTIVE ORDER READS:
“PROTECTING AMERICAN ENERGY FROM STATE OVERREACH
Executive Orders | April 8th, 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. My Administration is committed to unleashing American energy, especially through the removal of all illegitimate impediments to the identification, development, siting, production, investment in, or use of domestic energy resources — particularly oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, geothermal, biofuel, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources. An affordable and reliable domestic energy supply is essential to the national and economic security of the United States, as well as our foreign policy. Simply put, Americans are better off when the United States is energy dominant.
American energy dominance is threatened when State and local governments seek to regulate energy beyond their constitutional or statutory authorities. For example, when States target or discriminate against out-of-State energy producers by imposing significant barriers to interstate and international trade, American energy suffers, and the equality of each State enshrined by the Constitution is undermined. Similarly, when States subject energy producers to arbitrary or excessive fines through retroactive penalties or seek to control energy development, siting, or production activities on Federal land, American energy suffers.
Many States have enacted, or are in the process of enacting, burdensome and ideologically motivated “climate change” or energy policies that threaten American energy dominance and our economic and national security. New York, for example, enacted a “climate change” extortion law that seeks to retroactively impose billions in fines (erroneously labelled “compensatory payments”) on traditional energy producers for their purported past contributions to greenhouse gas emissions not only in New York but also anywhere in the United States and the world. Vermont similarly extorts energy producers for alleged past contributions to greenhouse gas emissions anywhere in the United States or the globe.
Other States have taken different approaches in an effort to dictate national energy policy. California, for example, punishes carbon use by adopting impossible caps on the amount of carbon businesses may use, all but forcing businesses to pay large sums to “trade” carbon credits to meet California’s radical requirements. Some States delay review of permit applications to produce energy, creating de facto barriers to entry in the energy market. States have also sued energy companies for supposed “climate change” harm under nuisance or other tort regimes that could result in crippling damages.
These State laws and policies weaken our national security and devastate Americans by driving up energy costs for families coast-to-coast, despite some of these families not living or voting in States with these crippling policies. These laws and policies also undermine Federalism by projecting the regulatory preferences of a few States into all States. Americans must be permitted to heat their homes, fuel their cars, and have peace of mind — free from policies that make energy more expensive and inevitably degrade quality of life.
These State laws and policies try to dictate interstate and international disputes over air, water, and natural resources; unduly discriminate against out-of-State businesses; contravene the equality of States; and retroactively impose arbitrary and excessive fines without legitimate justification.
These State laws and policies are fundamentally irreconcilable with my Administration’s objective to unleash American energy. They should not stand.
Sec. 2. State Laws and Causes of Action. (a) The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of appropriate executive departments and agencies, shall identify all State and local laws, regulations, causes of action, policies, and practices (collectively, State laws) burdening the identification, development, siting, production, or use of domestic energy resources that are or may be unconstitutional, preempted by Federal law, or otherwise unenforceable. The Attorney General shall prioritize the identification of any such State laws purporting to address “climate change” or involving “environmental, social, and governance” initiatives, “environmental justice,” carbon or “greenhouse gas” emissions, and funds to collect carbon penalties or carbon taxes.
(b) The Attorney General shall expeditiously take all appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State laws and continuation of civil actions identified in subsection
(a) of this section that the Attorney General determines to be illegal.
(c) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General shall submit a report to the President, through the Counsel to the President, regarding actions taken under subsection (b) of this section. The Attorney General shall also recommend any additional Presidential or legislative action necessary to stop the enforcement of State laws identified in subsection (a) of this section that the Attorney General determines to be illegal or otherwise fulfill the purpose of this order.
Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 8, 2025. “
EXECUTIVE ORDER READS:
“STRENGTHENING THE RELIABILITY AND SECURITY
OF THE UNITED STATES ELECTRIC GRID
Executive Orders | April 8th, 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. The United States is experiencing an unprecedented surge in electricity demand driven by rapid technological advancements, including the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers and an increase in domestic manufacturing. This increase in demand, coupled with existing capacity challenges, places a significant strain on our Nation’s electric grid. Lack of reliability in the electric grid puts the national and economic security of the American people at risk. The United States’ ability to remain at the forefront of technological innovation depends on a reliable supply of energy from all available electric generation sources and the integrity of our Nation’s electric grid.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to ensure the reliability, resilience, and security of the electric power grid. It is further the policy of the United States that in order to ensure adequate and reliable electric generation in America, to meet growing electricity demand, and to address the national emergency declared pursuant to Executive Order 14156 of January 20, 2025 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency), our electric grid must utilize all available power generation resources, particularly those secure, redundant fuel supplies that are capable of extended operations
Sec. 3. Addressing Energy Reliability and Security with Emergency Authority. (a) To safeguard the reliability and security of the United States’ electric grid during periods when the relevant grid operator forecasts a temporary interruption of electricity supply is necessary to prevent a complete grid failure, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with such executive department and agency heads as the Secretary of Energy deems appropriate, shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law, streamline, systemize, and expedite the Department of Energy’s processes for issuing orders under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act during the periods of grid operations described above, including the review and approval of applications by electric generation resources seeking to operate at maximum capacity.
(b) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy shall develop a uniform methodology for analyzing current and anticipated reserve margins for all regions of the bulk power system regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and shall utilize this methodology to identify current and anticipated regions with reserve margins below acceptable thresholds as identified by the Secretary of Energy. This methodology shall:
(i) analyze sufficiently varied grid conditions and operating scenarios based on historic events to adequately inform the methodology;
(ii) accredit generation resources in such conditions and scenarios based on historical performance of each specific generation resource type in the real time conditions and operating scenarios of each grid scenario; and
(iii) be published, along with any analysis it produces, on the Department of Energy’s website within 90 days of the date of this order.
(c) The Secretary of Energy shall establish a process by which the methodology described in subsection (b) of this section, and any analysis and results it produces, are assessed on a regular basis, and a protocol to identify which generation resources within a region are critical to system reliability. This protocol shall additionally:
(i) include all mechanisms available under applicable law, including section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, to ensure any generation resource identified as critical within an at-risk region is appropriately retained as an available generation resource within the at-risk region; and
(ii) prevent, as the Secretary of Energy deems appropriate and consistent with applicable law, including section 202 of the Federal Power Act, an identified generation resource in excess of 50 megawatts of nameplate capacity from leaving the bulk-power system or converting the source of fuel of such generation resource if such conversion would result in a net reduction in accredited generating capacity, as determined by the reserve margin methodology developed under subsection (b) of this section.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 8, 2025.
Sources
- President Donald Trump
- “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/reinvigorating-americas-beautiful-clean-coal-industry-and-amending-executive-order-14241/ - “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/protecting-american-energy-from-state-overreach/ - “Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/strengthening-the-reliability-and-security-of-the-united-states-electric-grid/ - Quoted Statements: All quotes (e.g., Trump’s “This is a very important day to me…”, Burgum’s “These are clean coal plants…”, Feaster’s “The main issue is…”) are from the original text, attributed to named individuals or their statements.
- Coal Plant Closures and Jobs: Data on 75 plant closures and 13,000 job losses during Trump’s first term, plus Biden’s E.P.A. rule, are from the original text; likely sourced from public energy reports or news archives.
- PJM Interconnection Costs: The $720 million figure is from the original text; no specific link provided, but implied to stem from PJM or utility reports.
- https://pixabay.com/photos/power-station-energy-electricity-374097/
- https://pixabay.com/photos/bbq-grill-food-meat-barbecue-4373644/
- https://pixabay.com/photos/fire-campfire-burning-burn-flames-2915539/
- https://pixabay.com/photos/power-plant-cooling-tower-4349830/
- https://pixabay.com/photos/fire-flame-coal-wood-burn-burning-4892711/
- https://pixabay.com/photos/power-plant-thermal-tower-coal-1620885/
- https://pixabay.com/photos/power-plant-industry-chimney-2411932/
- https://pixabay.com/photos/industry-dumper-minerals-coal-2023592/
Author, Ryan Bridglal, 04/09/2025
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