Trump Launches Broad Effort to Help Revive Flagging US Coal
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is opening 13.1 million acres of federal land for leasing to coal miners and providing $625 million for power plants that burn the fuel as part of a broad initiative to help revive the flagging industry.
The measures come as the president and administration officials have prioritized boosting coal-fired power amid surging electricity demand from data centers, new factories and the broader electrification of the economy. The total area the administration is opening for leasing is six times larger than Yellowstone National Park and includes tracts in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Alabama.
“This is an industry that’s been under assault to try and restrict its capability,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at in event at the Interior Department. “If we want to make sure we are continuing to lead and to win and make sure every American has access to affordable and reliable electricity, its important we get behind this.”
The moves mark the latest effort by the Trump administration to steer US energy policy to help ensure coal remains part of the US electricity mix, even as scientists warn the shift risks worsening climate change and is frequently at greater cost when compared to natural gas or solar power.
Still, it’s unclear whether the new initiatives will meaningfully alter the trajectory of coal, which has declined for years in the face of competition from low-cost natural gas and renewable power and tougher environmental regulation. Coal now accounts for about 15% of power generation in the US, down from more than half in 2000, according to the US Energy Information Administration. And a total of 27 gigawatts of coal-power generating capacity, or about 16% of the US total, is scheduled to retire by the end of 2028, per the EIA.
Shares of Peabody Energy Corp., the largest US coal miner, rose as much as 6.7% Monday.
In addition to expanding coal-leasing in the US to more than triple the requirement set in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the agency announced it was reducing the royalty rate paid for coal and would be streamlining approvals for projects in Wyoming, Tennessee and elsewhere. The Department of Energy announced it would be providing the $625 million to recommission or modernize coal plants and fund new coal projects.
Among the measures being put forward by the Environmental Protection Agencyis a proposal taking aim at a 2024 Biden-era rule regulating wastewater from coal-fired power plants that Administrator Lee Zeldin said would “provide regulatory certainty for the industry.” Specifically, the agency is proposing to give facilities more time to meet existing compliance deadlines. The EPA also announced it was taking initial steps to make changes to the Clean Air Act rules requiring reductions in pollutants that cause haze, such as sulfur dioxide.
Environmental advocates blasted the initiative, which comes as the Trump administration has halted massive offshore wind projects and outright eliminated other renewable energy initiatives.
“The Trump administration’s reckless actions announced today will hurt the American people, all to prop up the aging and outdated coal industry,” said Holly Bender, the Sierra Club’s chief program officer. “Coal power is now not only the dirtiest form of electricity, it is one of the most expensive, contributing to the rising cost of Americans’ energy bills.”
(Updates to add details throughout.)
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