{"id":10076,"date":"2026-02-12T14:15:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/12\/trump-flexes-federal-muscle-to-resuscitate-clean-beautiful-coal-ee-news-by-politico\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T14:15:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:15:20","slug":"trump-flexes-federal-muscle-to-resuscitate-clean-beautiful-coal-ee-news-by-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/12\/trump-flexes-federal-muscle-to-resuscitate-clean-beautiful-coal-ee-news-by-politico\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump flexes federal muscle to resuscitate \u2018clean beautiful coal\u2019 – E&E News by POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump declared his love for \u201cclean beautiful coal\u201d Wednesday at a campaign-style event that marked a major setback for U.S. climate policy.<\/p>\n

The White House celebration kicked off Trump\u2019s most aggressive bid yet to save coal, the most polluting of the fossil fuels that drive climate change. The president has ordered the military to buy power from the nation\u2019s struggling coal plants and doled out millions of dollars for facilities on the brink of closure. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know you well,\u201d Trump told coal miners donning hard hats at the White House. \u201cI think I get about 97 percent of your vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump inked an executive order<\/a> directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to procure power from coal plants through long-term power purchase agreements for military installations and other mission-critical facilities. He also announced the Energy Department\u2019s approval of $175 million to upgrade coal plants in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and Kentucky.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be buying a lot of coal through the military now,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Trump is aggressively moving to marshal federal law and funding to resuscitate an industry that\u2019s been beset by closures and rising costs \u2014 while also rolling back critical climate protections and regulations, forcing retiring coal plants to continue operating, and opening up public lands to more leasing and mining. On Thursday, the administration is expected<\/a> to roll back the endangerment finding for greenhouse gases, which serves as the scientific underpinning for most climate rules. <\/p>\n

Trump failed to revive the coal sector during his first stint in the White House, when he faced the mounting challenges of cheap gas, falling costs for renewables and weak demand. And while that trend has begun to shift, experts are still waiting for proof<\/a> of a long-term comeback.<\/p>\n

But on Wednesday, Trump touted coal\u2019s revival, surrounded by agency heads, fossil fuel executives and lawmakers from fossil-heavy states, including Republican Sens. John Barrasso from Wyoming and Jim Justice of West Virginia. <\/p>\n

The president boasted that his administration has clinched \u201chistoric\u201d trade agreements with South Korea, Japan, India and other countries to boost U.S. coal exports dramatically. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now exporting coal to all over the world,\u201d Trump said. He was then presented with a trophy from the Washington Coal Club in the shape of a miner, which Peabody CEO Jim Grech said was inscribed with the words \u201cUndisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coal boosters say Trump is delivering for the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoal has been banished under the last two Democratic administrations. You know, it\u2019s a four letter word,\u201d said Ramaco Resources CEO Randy Atkins, who attended the White House event. Ramaco is pushing, with the administration\u2019s support<\/a>, to build the first new coal mine in Wyoming in over 50 years and the first new rare earths facility in the U.S. in seven decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have the greatest, most economically prosperous country in the world sending a signal that you know coal is a useful feedstock for power, I think that sends a message to other developed countries that this is something that they need to consider as well, and that does send a strong market signal,\u201d Atkins added.<\/p>\n

\"President
President Donald Trump holds the \u201cUndisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal\u201d trophy presented to him by Jim Grech, president and CEO of Peabody Energy and chair of the National Coal Council, during an event on coal power in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday. | Evan Vucci\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Worker rights and environmental groups blasted the administration for claiming to support coal miners while slashing federal staffing and rules for miner safety, including a Biden-era regulation that would protect miners from silica dust.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the way to build a better future for Appalachia. If you\u2019re going to invest in coal, you need to invest in protecting workers and strengthening our communities, but this plan does neither,\u201d said Rebecca Shelton of the Appalachian Citizens\u2019 Law Center.<\/p>\n

Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, derided Trump\u2019s \u201csoot-stained\u201d award.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 19th century called, and it wants its fuel source back,\u201d said Bapna. \u201cIt\u2019s no wonder fossil fuel lobbyists are handing Trump an award today. Trump asked them for campaign cash and promised to return the favor \u2014 and now, he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House event Wednesday was followed by news that the board of the nation\u2019s largest public utility \u2014 Tennessee Valley Authority \u2014 voted to continue operating two coal plants in Tennessee beyond their scheduled retirement dates. <\/p>\n

A lifeline or \u2018violation\u2019?<\/h4>\n

Trump\u2019s pitch to revive coal faces myriad challenges<\/a>, including stiff competition from gas and other power sources, litigation and environmental concerns, rising costs, reliability issues and questions around how \u2014 and where \u2014 the Pentagon can boost purchases of coal-fired power.<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s move to fund struggling coal plants has also already triggered a Senate investigation.<\/p>\n

Trump announced Wednesday that DOE is doling out millions of federal dollars<\/a> from the bipartisan infrastructure act to prop up old and shuttered coal plants across Appalachia. While the agency has said it\u2019s on solid legal footing, former and current DOE officials and ethics experts say the move undermines congressional intent.<\/p>\n

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who landed in Venezuela on Wednesday to engage with top officials and visit the nation\u2019s oil fields, said in a statement that the $175 million would support modernizing, retrofitting and extending the life of half a dozen coal plants.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, previous administrations targeted America\u2019s coal industry and the workers who power our country, forcing the premature closure of reliable plants, and driving up electricity costs,\u201d said Wright. \u201cPresident Trump has ended the war on American coal and is restoring common-sense energy policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

DOE said the funding will help Appalachian Power upgrade two plants in West Virginia, including the Mountaineer Power Plant in Letart and the John E. Amos Power Plant in Winfield.<\/p>\n

\"President
President Donald Trump holds an executive order regarding coal and stands next to his new coal award during an event in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday, as (from left) Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), EPA Director Lee Zeldin and coal miners watch. | Evan Vucci\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other recipients include Buckeye Power, which will upgrade the systems of two coal-fired units at the Cardinal plant in Brilliant, Ohio, and Duke Energy Carolinas, which will upgrade two coal-fired units at the Belews Creek Steam Station in Sauratown Township, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

The funding will also allow Kentucky Utilities Co. to increase the annual capacity factor of Unit 2 of its coal-fired Ghent Generating Station in Ghent, Kentucky. Monongahela Power Co. will also upgrade its two units at its Fort Martin Power Station in Maidsville, West Virginia, and the Ohio Valley Electric Corp. will upgrade all five coal-fired generating units at the Kyger Creek Station in Cheshire, Ohio.<\/p>\n

But two Democratic senators say DOE\u2019s use of the funds to subsidize coal power plants \u201cflies in the face of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray and Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Sen. Martin Heinrich told Wright in a letter<\/a> that Congress \u201cclearly appropriated\u201d the money for carbon capture programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that redirecting these funds may constitute a Purpose Statute violation by misusing the funding as originally appropriated by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,\u201d the senators wrote, directing DOE to provide answers by February 25 to a list of legal questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department is knowingly and intentionally redirecting funds intended to reduce pollution to instead further the Trump administration\u2019s policy of propping up coal-fired power plants,\u201d they wrote. \u201cThis policy will not only cause more pollution in communities nationwide while harming public health and the environment, it will also raise energy costs at a time when the American people are already feeling the pinch with record high energy bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

DOE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump declared his love for \u201cclean beautiful coal\u201d Wednesday at a campaign-style event that marked a major setback for U.S. climate policy. The White House celebration kicked off Trump\u2019s most aggressive bid yet to save coal, the most polluting of the fossil fuels that drive climate change. The president has ordered the military […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}