Under the Biden administration, the United States made strides in its green transition, supported by policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The U.S. renewable energy capacity increased significantly, and a long-term shift away from coal was in the works. However, since President Trump came into office, his administration has begun to undo much of the green progress made over the last four years and is once again looking to coal to meet the domestic power demand.
Coal is widely considered the “dirtiest fossil fuel”, as burning it is the single largest contributor to global warming, accounting for 41 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, as well as high levels of methane, according to the non-profit Ember. One 2023 study suggested that in the United States, approximately 460,000 deaths in the Medicare population were attributable to coal electricity-generating emissions from the country’s 480 coal-fired power plants between 1999 and 2020.
For years, various countries around the globe shifted away from a reliance on coal to other less-polluting fossil fuels, such as natural gas, and renewable alternatives. Across the 38 OECD countries, coal generation declined by 52 percent on average between 2007 and 2024. It was mainly replaced with new solar and wind power capacity. Meanwhile, U.S. coal generation fell by over 50 percent between 2008 and 2023.
After decades moving away from coal to oil and gas, nuclear power, and renewable alternatives, the Trump administration is once again putting coal on its energy agenda. In April, Trump signed the Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order.
The order states, “We must increase domestic energy production, including coal.” It goes on to say, “America’s coal resources are vast, with a current estimated value in the trillions of dollars and are more than capable of substantially contributing to American energy independence with excess to export to support allies and our economic competitiveness.”
Coal-burning plants produce less than 20 percent of U.S. electricity at present, according to the Energy Information Administration. However, Trump’s support for coal could soon change this. Upon signing the April order, Trump stated, “We’re bringing back an industry that was abandoned.” He added, “We’re going to put the miners back to work.”
Since coming into office, Trump has rolled back environmental regulations and vowed to increase domestic energy output, with a focus on fossil fuels. As the U.S. energy demand rises, and is expected to continue increasing, there are growing fears around meeting this demand. Trump aims to boost oil and gas production, as well as halt retirement plans for ageing coal plants and lift barriers to coal mining on federal lands, to meet this demand.
Other more extreme steps may be taken to encourage coal use in the coming years, such as the potential designation of coal as a “critical mineral” when used for steel production. The Department of Energy (DoE) also recently announced $200 billion in funding for its loan programmes office, including for new coal technologies.
In late June, the U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced the renewal of the charter for the National Coal Council (NCC), a Federal Advisory Committee that was terminated during the Biden administration, to strengthen the coal industry. The DoE also recently ordered the JH Campbell coal plant on Lake Michigan to stay open beyond its 31 May closure date, and may extend the life of the Monroe power plant on Lake Erie in Michigan, which is scheduled to close in 2028. Based on Trump’s energy agenda, other coal plants destined for decommissioning are likely to continue operating.
Despite the Trump administration’s best efforts to garner support for coal, not everyone is willing to backtrack on its energy goals. In recent months, several state regulators, regional grid operators, environmental groups, and consumer groups have challenged the legality of the DoE’s stay-open orders. In June, state utility regulators and environmental groups filed rehearing requests with the DoE over the halted closure of JH Campbell and the Eddystone oil and gas-burning plant in Pennsylvania, arguing that renewable energy could better fill the growing energy demand.
Robert Routh, the climate and energy policy director for the Natural Resources Defence Council, stated, “We need to get more electrons on the grid. We need those to be clean, reliable, and affordable.” Routh added, keeping the coal plants in question open, “results in the exact opposite. It’s costly, harmful, unnecessary, and unlawful.”
President Trump has taken U.S. energy in the opposite direction from his predecessor, Joe Biden, by halting green energy progress and introducing policies to support higher coal output. Several coal plants destined for retirement in the coming years will likely remain open, as Trump strives to save them, and new mining projects could be in the works in certain states. However, several state governments, utilities, and environmental groups will continue to battle against the expansion of the coal industry in favour of cleaner alternatives that can also meet the growing U.S. energy demand.