WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday it would open 13 million acres of federal land for the mines and provide $625 million Coal-fired power plants recommendations or modernization As a president Donald Trump He continues his efforts to reverse a year-long decline in the US coal industry.
Action by the Energy and Internal Sectors Environmental Protection Agency to follow Presidential Order issued by Trump It is a reliable but polluted energy source that has long been reduced amid competition between environmental regulations and cheap natural gas to bring coal back to April.
Environmental groups have condemned the announcement that was made when the Trump administration locked it into renewable energy, including a freezing permit Offshore Wind Project,ending Clean Energy Tax Credit Wind and solar project blocks on federal lands.
Under Trump’s order, the energy department has called for fossil fuel power plants in Michigan and Pennsylvania, demanding that they continue to operate beyond their retirement date. Increase in US electricity demand As data centers grow, artificial intelligence And an electric car. With the latest announcement, these efforts can be expanded as a precaution against potential power shortages.
Trump also directed federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal land, lift barriers to coal mining, and prioritize coal leases on US land. a Tax bill It will reduce the royalty rate of the coal mine, which was approved by the Republicans and signed by Trump, from 12.5% to 7%. This said it would help authorities to enable US coal producers to compete in the global market.
“My baby, my baby”
The new law also mandates the availability of coal mining on federal land and streamlines federal review of coal leases.
“Everyone likes to say ‘baby, drill, drill’. I know that President Trump has another initiative for us. It’s “my baby, my baby.” Doug Burgham He said this at the Interior Headquarters at a press conference on Monday. Environmental Protection Agency Administrators Lee Zeldin Energy Secretary Wells Griffith also spoke at the event. All three agents have signed orders to boost coal.
“With the increase in coal acres available to lower coal royalty rates and unlock critical minerals from mining waste, we are strengthening our economy, protecting national security and ensuring that communities from Montana to Alabama benefit from good work,” Burgham said.
Zeldin called coal a reliable source of energy that has supported American communities and economic growth for generations.
“Americans have suffered as past administrations tried to apply strong regulations on energy that is disadvantaged by coal and other forms of energy,” he said.
Trump is locked to renewable energy
Environmental groups said Trump wasted federal taxes by handing them to owners of the oldest, most expensive and dirty power sources.
“Subsidizing coal means supporting dirty, uncompetitive plants since the last century and saddening our families with high costs and pollution,” said Ted Kelly, Clean Energy Director at the Environmental Defense Fund.
Storage of solar, wind and batteries is the cheapest and fastest way to bring new power to the grid, Kelly and other supporters said. “It makes no sense to cut off your best, most affordable options while doubling the most expensive,” Kelly said.
The EPA said Monday it will open a 60-day public comment period on potential changes to local haze rules that helped reduce haze of polluted fuels. National Parkswilderness areas and tribal reservations. Zeldin said in March that Hayes’ rules were he Plans to roll back or eliminateincluding the discovery in 2009 that climate change is harmful to human health and the environment.
Coal production has dropped sharply
Burgham is also in charge of Trump’s chairman. National Energy Control Council, The lawsuit, released Monday, along with tax law and previous president and secretary orders, ensures that it will “reduce the dependence of coal and minerals on foreign sources while ensuring abundant and affordable energy.”
Republican presidents have long promised to grow What he calls “beautiful” coal But the industry has been declining for decades due to power plants and other uses.
Coal once provided more than half of US electricity production, but its share fell to about 15% in 2024 and down from about 45% in 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of the US electricity, with the rest coming from nuclear and renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydroelectric power.
Energy experts say that coal bumps under Trump are likely to be temporary because natural gas is inexpensive, and no matter who has the White House, there is a durable market for renewable energy such as wind and solar.
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Associated Press writer Todd Richmond from Madison, Wisconsin contributed to the story.
