DENVER—President Donald Trump will welcome coal barons to the White House today as he signs an executive order seeking to bring the coal industry back from the dead.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Policy Director Rachael Hamby:
“Donald Trump is hell-bent on dragging the United States back to the 19th century, complete with robber barons, smokestacks, crippling tariffs, and measles. The free market has already made it clear that renewable energy sources are a cheaper and healthier path to meet America’s energy needs. It’s time to stop picking winners and losers and join us in the 21st century.”
Coal production on federal lands fell 50 percent from its height in 2008 to 2023, the latest year for which federal data is available. A 2023 study by Energy Innovation found that 99 percent of existing US coal plants are more expensive to run than replacement by local wind, solar, and energy storage resources.
Learn more:
The U.S. coal industry is dying. Trump threw it a lifeline. – Washington Post
What Trump and Burgum’s sell-out to mining companies means for national public lands – Westwise
US wind and solar on track to overtake coal this year – E&E News
US renewable energy farms outstrip 99% of coal plants economically – The Guardian
Feature image: Coal site in Utah; BLM photo