Trump moves to revive coal industry amid criticism, market shifts

President Donald Trump has signed four new executive orders seeking to revive the flagging American coal industry by easing environmental regulations, streamlining approvals for new mining operations and encouraging coal-fired power generation to support the booming artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

The move comes amid concerns over energy demand from data centres and long-standing arguments over coal’s role in energy reliability. However, experts and environmentalists alike warn the policy shift may do little to stem the decades-long decline of coal in the US, driven by cheaper and cleaner alternatives such as solar and wind power.

Speaking at a White House event flanked by coal miners in hard hats, Trump framed the order as essential to national strength and energy security. “We are bringing back an industry that was abandoned despite the fact it was just about the best in terms of power – real power,” Trump said. “We are ending Joe Biden’s war on beautiful clean coal once and for all.”

Before Trump’s announcement, Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had said to Fox News Digital: "The Golden Age is here, and we are starting to ‘Mine, Baby, Mine’ for clean American coal." 

Under the new order, federal agencies such as the Interior Department will be directed to reopen coal leasing across vast stretches of public land, a practice largely curtailed under the Biden administration. The Energy Department has also been tasked with assessing whether coal-fired plants can reliably meet the power demands of emerging AI data centres.

Trump’s administration plans to classify coal as a “critical mineral,” a designation that would expedite project approvals and open new avenues of support under previous federal orders aimed at promoting domestic resource extraction.

The initiative builds on regulatory changes already underway. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), now under the Trump administration's control, recently introduced a provision allowing coal plants and other facilities to apply for exemptions from Clean Air Act pollution controls if compliant technology is deemed unavailable or if the exemptions are claimed to support national security.

The Colstrip coal plant in Montana – one of the nation’s most polluting – has already applied for such an exemption, said the Washington Post.

But critics have cast doubt on the viability of this coal push.

Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at the Natural Resources Defence Council, told the Washington Post: “Trump tried this gambit in his last term. We fought it every step of the way – and it failed. With the gains made by solar, wind and battery power since then, bailing out coal makes even less sense today.”

“Coal plants are old and dirty, uncompetitive and unreliable,” said Kennedy. “The Trump administration is stuck in the past, trying to make utility customers pay more for yesterday’s energy. Instead, it should be doing all it can to build the electricity grid of the future.”

Industry praise

The National Mining Association welcomed the executive order, describing it as a reversal of what it termed the Biden administration’s “punitive regulatory agenda.”

“Today’s executive actions by President Trump clearly prioritise how to responsibly keep the lights on,” Rich Nolan, the association’s president, said in a stamen just before Trump signed the executive orders.

Nolan added the policy shift “embraces the economic opportunity that comes from American energy abundance” and that “the last administration’s energy policies were built on hostility to fossil fuels, directly targeting coal”.

Yet despite renewed political backing, the structural decline of coal appears difficult to reverse. Since 2011, coal’s share of US electricity generation has plummeted from nearly 50% to around 15%, according to federal data. Over 380 coal-fired plants have shut down or are slated for retirement, driven largely by economic factors.

Seth Feaster, a data analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told the New York Times: “Most of our coal plants are older and getting more expensive to run, and no one’s thinking about building new ones. It’s very hard to change that trajectory.”

Electric utilities have turned to natural gas, solar and wind power, which have become significantly more cost-effective and less polluting than coal. Carbon capture technology – often cited as a solution for “clean coal” – remains largely undeployed at commercial scale due to high costs.

AI data centres drive power demand

While prospects for building new coal-fired power stations remain dim, the growing demand for electricity from AI and cloud computing has prompted some utilities to extend the lifespan of existing plants. According to the National Mining Association, more than 40 coal plants have delayed planned closures in the past three years.

Chris Wright, the Energy Secretary, suggested that regulatory changes would help maintain grid stability. “We are on a path to continually shrink the electricity we generate from coal,” he had told media in February. “That has made electricity more expensive and our grid less stable.”

Similarly, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum described coal plants as “the most regulated segment of our energy industry” and added, “I applaud them if they’re still open – we need them to stay open.”

However, the potential cost to consumers is not insignificant. Earlier this year, grid operator PJM Interconnection delayed the retirement of two fossil fuel power plants – one coal, one oil – to prevent blackouts, a decision estimated to cost ratepayers over $720mn.

Climate and market forces still loom large

Coal remains the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel. Globally, coal use contributes roughly 40% of industrial carbon emissions. In addition to releasing CO₂, burning coal emits mercury, sulphur dioxide and other pollutants linked to respiratory illnesses and premature deaths.

Former president Joe Biden’s administration had sought to accelerate the transition away from coal, proposing a sweeping EPA rule that would have required all US coal plants to either implement carbon capture or close by 2039. Trump’s team has now ordered the repeal of that regulation, arguing it threatens grid stability and economic growth.

Still, few energy analysts expect the market for coal to turn around. Hydraulic fracturing has unlocked abundant and cheap natural gas, while renewable energy has surged thanks to declining costs and supportive policies. US coal output dropped by 32% between 2017 and 2024, government data shows.

During Trump’s first term, the coal industry lost roughly 13,000 jobs, and 75 coal plants closed despite his pro-coal rhetoric and deregulatory push. As of 2024, around 200 coal-fired plants remained in the US, with only 175 generating substantial electricity, according to government data.