The Trump administration said on September 29 that it is going to open 13 million acres of federal lands for coal mining and offer $625 million to either recommission or modernize the coal-fired power plants. This confirmation comes as President Trump continues his endeavors to reverse the years-long dip within the U.S. coal industry.
It is well to be noted that the actions by the Energy and Interior departments as well as the Environmental Protection Agency go on to follow the executive orders that Trump issued in April 2025 so as to revive coal, which is known to be a reliable yet polluting source of energy that has for long been shrinking the environmental regulations as well as competition from cheaper natural gas.
There are environmental groups that have gone on to denounce the actions, which, by the way, come as the Trump administration has gone ahead and clamped down on renewable energy, which includes freezing permits when it comes to offshore wind projects, culminating the offshore wind projects, and also blocking wind as well as solar projects that are based on the federal lands.
As per Trump’s orders, the Energy Department needs fossil-fueled power plants based out of Michigan as well as Pennsylvania to keep functioning past their retirement dates in order to meet the growing power demand in the US amidst the growth in data centers, AI, and electric cars. The latest announcement will enable those efforts to widen as a precaution vis-à -vis possible shortfalls in electricity.
It is worth noting that President Trump also has directed the federal agencies to identify coal resources available on federal lands, lift barriers when it comes to coal mining, and prioritize coal leasing when it comes to U.S. lands. There is also a sweeping tax bill that’s approved by the Republicans and signed by Trump that happens to reduce the royalty rates for coal mining from 12.5% to 7%, which is indeed quite a major decrease that, as per the officials, will help to make sure that the U.S. coal producers can compete throughout the global coal markets.
Interestingly, the new law also requires an increased availability in terms of federal lands for coal mining and at the same time also streamlines the federal reviews when it comes to coal leases.
According to Doug Burgum, the Interior Secretary, everybody would like to say drill, baby, drill and he knows that the President happens to have another initiative for them, which, by the way, is mine, baby, mine.
Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, along with Wells Griffith, the Energy Undersecretary, also spoke at the event. All three agencies went on to sign the orders boosting coal.
Through decreasing the royalty rate for coal, raising the coal acres that are available for leasing, and also unlocking critical minerals coming from the mine waste, they are indeed turning their economy more robust, safeguarding national security, and at the same time ensuring that communities based out of Montana to Alabama happen to benefit from the good-paying jobs, said Burgum.
Notably, Zeldin called coal a dependable energy source that has gone on to support the American communities as well as economic growth for generations.
He added that Americans are indeed suffering due to the fact that the past administration looked to apply heavy-handed regulations when it comes to coal along with other forms of energy that it deemed as unfavorable.
There were certain environmental groups that opined that Trump was indeed wasting federal tax dollars by handing them to owners of some of the oldest and most expensive as well as dirtiest sources when it comes to electricity.
As per the clean energy director for the Environmental Defense Fund, Ted Kelly, subsidizing coal goes on to mean propping up dirty as well as uncompetitive plants from the last century and, at the same time, saddling families with high costs along with pollution. He further said that they need modern as well as affordable clean energy solutions so as to power a modern economy; however, the Trump administration is looking to drag them back to the electric grid of the 1950s.
It is well to be noted that solar and wind, as well as battery storage, happen to be the cheapest and fastest ways to bring new power within the grid, Kelly, along with other advocates, said. It really makes no sense, as per Kelly, to cut off the best and the most affordable options while at the same time doubling down on the ones that are the most expensive.
According to the EPA, it is going to delay seven deadlines that are related to wastewater pollution coming from coal-fired power plants. The industry has already complained that the regulations that were imposed under the Biden administration were costly and also designed to speed up the closure of coal plants.
The waste from burning coal, which is coal ash, can leach into the groundwater and also spread toxins. The Biden administration remarked that the rules were floated with the objective of keeping arsenic and lead out of the well water, lowering the cancer rates, and at the same time avoiding any sort of disastrous spills.
According to the director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, Laurie Williams, Donald Trump as well as Lee Zeldin have given the big polluters a pass to go ahead and dump tons of toxic pollution in waterways, having no care for how most of the Americans are going to suffer from drinking water that’s contaminated or, for that matter, eating contaminated food.
Interestingly, the EPA also said it is going to open a 60-day public comment period when it comes to potential changes to a regional haze rule, which has gone on to help in reducing the pollution-fueled haze that is hanging over the national parks, wilderness areas as well as tribal reservations.
Zeldin went ahead and made an announcement in March 2025 that the haze rule is indeed going to be among dozens of landmark environmental regulations that he looks forward to rolling back or eradicating, and this does include the 2009 finding, which states that climate change harms human health as well as the environment.
The president and CEO of America’s Power, which is an industry group, Michelle Bloodworth, remarked that the EPA rule changes as well as other administration actions are going to help in protecting the electric reliability of America and at the same time also preserve its fleet when it comes to the coal-fired power plants.
Burgum, who also happens to chair the National Energy Dominance Council by Trump, said that the actions that have been announced on September 29, along with the tax law as well as previous presidential and secretarial orders, are going to make sure of abundant and affordable energy while decreasing the dependence in terms of foreign sources pertaining to coal and minerals.
It is worth noting that the Republican president has for long promised to throttle what, as per him, is beautiful coal so as to fire power plants and for certain other uses; however, the industry has been in decline of this for decades.
Interestingly, coal once gave out over 50% of U.S. electricity production; however, its share dropped to almost 15% in 2024, which was down from around 45% as recently as 2010. Natural gas goes on to offer almost 43% of U.S. electricity, while the remainder comes from nuclear energy as well as other renewables like wind, solar as well as hydropower.
According to the energy experts, any bump for coal under Trump is indeed going to be temporary since the fact remains that natural gas happens to be cheaper and that there is indeed a durable market when it comes to renewable energy like wind and solar power, no matter who controls the White House.
