United States: Donald Trump has signed four executive orders aimed at reviving the coal industry, a heavily polluting fossil fuel that has long been in decline. Speaking at a White House event flanked by coal miners in hard hats, Trump framed the move as a reaction to the growing electricity demands of data centres, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicles.
He declared coal “beautiful” and vowed to slash what he called unnecessary regulations, accelerate leasing for coal mining on federal lands, and use emergency authority to support older coal plants running. The executive orders demand all federal agencies to end what Trump described as discriminatory policies against coal, overturn Biden-era climate rules restricting coal emissions, prioritise grid reliability with an emphasis on fossil fuels, and investigate states that have enacted policies unfavourable to coal.
Trump also invoked the Defence Production Act to boost coal mining and called for federal support to raise coal technology and exports. The announcements drew swift criticism from environmental groups and energy experts, who argue that coal is no longer economically viable compared to natural gas and renewables.
Kit Kennedy of the Natural Resources Defence Council said the orders amounted to trying to make Americans “pay more for yesterday’s energy,” adding that, “What’s next, a mandate that Americans must commute by horse and buggy?”
Under President Biden, the Environmental Protection Agency implemented stringent emissions rules for coal-fired plants in an effort to slash carbon pollution, measures some experts viewed as a near-final blow to the coal sector. Trump’s rollback represents a dramatic shift away from those efforts and a renewed push to reform a fossil fuel that once dominated US electricity generation but now faces a future shaped by cleaner and cheaper alternatives.
A 2023 report from Energy Innovation found that 99 percent of the country’s coal fleet costs more to operate than it would replace with renewables. Government forecasts for 2025 indicate that 93 percent of new power added to the grid will come from solar, wind, and batteries.
Despite Trump’s insistence that coal is indestructible and essential, energy experts say any gains for the industry will likely be temporary. Market forces and technological innovation continue to force the energy sector away from coal regardless of who occupies the White House.
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