Audrey Streb
Contributor
Within the first months of his second administration, President Donald Trump has prioritized “unleashing” American energy and has already axed several of what he considers to be burdensome regulations on the coal industry, promising it’s “reinvigoration.”
Trump signed an executive order on April 8 to revive the coal industry, and shortly after moved to exempt several coal plants from Biden-era regulations. Though it has become a primary target of many climate activists, coal has been historically regarded as readily available and affordable, and several energy policy experts who spoke with Daily Caller News Foundation believe Trump has the cards necessary to strengthen the industry.
“When utility bills are skyrocketing or blackouts are happening in winter, people are going to want reliable power back,” Amy Cooke, co-founder and president of Always on Energy Research and the director of the Energy and Environmental Policy Center told the DCNF. “The beauty of coal is that it allows for affordable, reliable power, which is absolutely crucial to economic prosperity, and in particular, innovation.” (RELATED: Electricity Prices Have Risen Seven Times Faster Under Biden Than Trump)
“I think the number one, most significant threat to humanity is no power,” Cooke said, adding that coal is a vital contributor to the nation’s “baseload power.”
Following his executive order, Trump in early April granted a two-year exemption for nearly 70 coal plants from a Biden-era rule on air pollution that required them to reduce certain air pollutants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that the move would “bolster coal-fired electricity generation, ensuring that our nation’s grid is reliable, that electricity is affordable for the American people, and that EPA is helping to promote our nation’s energy security.”
Shortly after, skepticism swirled surrounding whether or not the coal industry would be able to experience a revival, and whether it would be economically savvy to pursue one.
Energy generated from burning coal only powers roughly 16% of the U.S., though 40 states are dependent on coal, according to data from America’s Power. Energy generation through coal reached a record low in 2023, a Rhodium Group study reported. In 2021, however, coal was the primary source of energy for 15 states, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“We can lead the world in innovation,” Cook told the DCNF, referencing developments in natural gas and nuclear power as beneficial. “But you have to have coal. It has to be part of the mix.”
“It’s insane that we would shut down any base load power right now, when the demand for power is so high,” Cooke added. She further referenced the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s 2024 report and research from Always on Energy Research that have projected rolling blackouts to begin across the U.S. by 2028.
As American energy demand continues to climb, the odds of impending blackouts would increase if the supply fails to grow at the same rate. The push toward renewable energy sources, in addition to stringent environmental regulations approved under former President Joe Biden, may have contributed to the slower growth of energy supply currently being experienced in the U.S. (RELATED: A Major Backer Of Green Energy Admits Again That Solar And Wind Power Alone ‘Can’t Reliably Keep The Lights On’)
Immediately after returning to the White House, Trump declared a national energy emergency, stating that “the integrity and expansion of our Nation’s energy infrastructure” is “an immediate and pressing priority for the protection of the United States’ national and economic security.”
“We looked at it and predict that there will be periods of blackouts of 24 hours or more,” Cook told the DCNF.
She further noted that “the cheapest power is the power you’ve already paid for,” arguing for the continuation of existing coal plants and the reopening of ones that have been closed.
“The only people who think coal is bad are those who view it through the lens of carbon emissions only, and that is no way to do energy policy,” Cooke said, arguing that it is necessary to adopt a “holistic” approach to energy generation, given the nation’s projected energy crisis.
Seen on television in WV after @POTUS signed an Executive Order revitalizing the coal industry: “Miners can wake up today for the first time in a decade and their spouses and families will realize they have a job tomorrow… and hear a president of the country announce that the… pic.twitter.com/DNdcYiVvF6
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 14, 2025
“The American people need more energy, and the Department of Energy is helping to meet this demand by unleashing supply of affordable, reliable, secure energy sources – including coal,” Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in an April 9 statement. “Coal is essential for generating 24/7 electricity,” he added, “but misguided policies from previous administrations have stifled this critical American industry. With President Trump’s leadership, we are cutting the red tape and bringing back common sense.”
The president has also said that he envisions greater job opportunities for coal miners with the industry’s expansion, stating during an April 8 press conference that the workers are “really well-deserving and great American patriots.”
“For years, people would just bemoan this industry and decimate the industry for absolutely no reason,” Trump added.
“Miners can wake up today for the first time in a decade and their spouses and families will realize they have a job tomorrow,” reporter Bob Aaron said in a video shared on X. They can “hear a president of the country announce that the war on coal is over.” (RELATED: After Razing Democrats’ Climate Policies, Trump Directs Admin To Unleash ‘Beautiful, Clean’ Coal)
“I really anticipate a revival in the coal industry in the United States under Trump,” David Blackmon, an energy and policy writer who spent 40 years in the oil and gas business told the DCNF. He pointed to the Trump administration loosening restrictions on coal, adding that the Biden administration made it “near impossible” to build new coal plants due to aggressive climate rules.
Under Biden’s signature climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. prioritized renewable energy generation and subsidization, resulting in a hefty price tag for taxpayers who had to foot the bill for several environmental initiatives, including hundreds of millions of dollars for solar panel construction in some of the nation’s least-sunny locations.
“The cheapest, the most affordable thing to do is to keep our current infrastructure online,” André Béliveau, Senior Manager of Energy Policy at the Commonwealth Foundation, told the DCNF. “Coal remains one of, if not, the most affordable energy source we have.”
“You’re forcing retirement of full-time energy sources and trying to replace them with part-time energy sources, and that’s not going to work,” Béliveau continued, referencing renewable energy avenues such as wind and solar. “We can’t run a full-time economy on part-time energy.”
The Department of Energy did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment. The White House referred the DCNF to its fact sheet summarizing the president’s April 8 executive order.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
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Sanity in government has returned! New coal plant construction can’t compete with horizontally drilled and hydraulic fracked natural gas combusted in CCGT’s but that’s not the point:
She further noted that “the cheapest power is the power you’ve already paid for,” arguing for the continuation of existing coal plants and the reopening of ones that have been closed.
“The only people who think coal is bad are those who view it through the lens of carbon emissions only, and that is no way to do energy policy,”
I would prefer that natural gas be reserved for home heating so that electric utilities don’t drive up the cost of gas, and since only utilities can use coal efficiently and cleanly.
But it’s hard to argue with the beautiful design and efficiency of CCGTs.
Another advantage of coal is that you can store several months worth by just piling it up.
Natural gas cannot be cheaply stored.
Even if natural gas is a little bit cheaper, coal has other advantages.
With China accounting for 74% of global coal generation last year and India generating 75% of its electricity from it in 2024, those two countries are reminding the rest of the world that reliable energy supplies are first and foremost in economic growth. Only the purblind environmentalists keep trying to delude the rest of us into believing that renewables like wind and solar are the keys to future energy supplies while saving the problem from big, bad carbon emissions. The reality is that they’re wrong on both counts, and coal’s revival by the US should serve as a further reminder that the world’s leading energy producers and consumers are continuing to ignore their frantic pleas for supposedly clean but guaranteed unreliable energy sources.
Undoing the Endangerment Finding is important, but the True Believers are still a risk for new coal.
I doubt Trump’s policies can do more then keep existing coal plants running for four more years. No one’s going to invest in new plants when the next potential flipflop is just four years away.
I don’t think Trump’s smashing of wind and solar will similarly scare off the solar and wind frauds from investing if the Democrats win in 2028, since the only way solar and wind have gotten investments is with government money or guarantees, and those could happen in the first few months of a Democrat administration.
I don’t know what the rules are in the USA, but the power operators do need to be allowed to set their own rules to give priority to reliability and reducing total cost. No matter what the Democrats might do in four years time, there’s no reason not to get the system working optimally now.
The key is to stop electing Democrats.
Just a note.. The name “Cook” is used in a couple of cases instead of “Cooke”..
Might want to fix that.
An added benefit to burning coal for energy is that the ash left over is rich in rare-earth metals. There is a great deal of coal ash that can be mined, making us independent of the Chinese near-monopoly on them.
Good point. I believe some American companies are starting to do this.
Stop subsidizing wind and solar, and put coal and NG back on a level playing field. They used to be competitors, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. NG is not available everywhere, for example. Undoing the damage that has been done to coal power will take time, of course. But, you have to start somewhere.
From the article: “You’re forcing retirement of full-time energy sources and trying to replace them with part-time energy sources, and that’s not going to work,” Béliveau continued, referencing renewable energy avenues such as wind and solar. “We can’t run a full-time economy on part-time energy.”
That’s the bottom line, right there.
How long will it be before the UK and German politicians figure this out?
What is the durability of an executive order not supported by the opposing party?
How much does it cost to build out a coal fired power plant?
How long does it take for that power plant to pay off the upfront costs and the interest on those costs?
What imbecile would sink that kind of money on a promise from an executive order?
If you want the war on coal to be tilted in favor of coal you need to pass strong legislation that prevents the executive from using executive orders to control coal, have to have court victories that will be hard to overturn that support coal with promises that they will be allowed the 50 years a coal plant would normally be able to run for or be made whole if the government pulls the carpet out from under them.
Then coal will revive.
Some say natural gas killed coal, that coal cannot recover from low cost natural gas. Low cost natural gas is transitory and is a result of the fracking happening. But the natural gas reserves in those oil deposits depletes faster than the oil does. Which means at some point in time the days of excess natural gas will come to an end and the price will rise. Coal reserves currently are harmed by the lack of scale that the pullback of the industry has caused, driving prices higher.
Coal can recover, and at some point in time, short of the nation go all out on nuclear of some form or a miracle in fusion, it will once again become the economical choice for baseload.