EPA, Energy, Interior announce plans to support coal mining

On Sept. 29, the Trump administration announced a series of actions intended to boost coal mining and electricity generation, its latest move in a government-wide effort to reverse the fuel’s decline.

The announcements from the EPA, Energy and Interior departments are intended to bolster the domestic coal industry at a time of increasing electricity demand due in large part to artificial intelligence data centers. Administration officials and congressional Republicans said these changes are necessary to ensure U.S. competitiveness.

“Around the world, coal is still growing. People talk about peak coal, most consumption, but last year was the year that the most coal was used in the world, and of course we’re in a competition,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said, referring to the AI industry in China. “If we don’t lead in electrical production, we’re going to lose the AI arms race.”

The Energy Department will provide $625 million to subsidize and support coal-fired plants, including $350 million for retrofitting and recommissioning coal plants at or near their retirement dates and $175 million for coal power projects in rural communities.

The Interior Department said it will open more than 13 million acres of federal land for coal mining and streamline permitting the approval process for other mines. It will also implement a provision of the Republican reconciliation law that reduces the royalty rate for coal from 12.5 percent to 7%.

And the EPA announced regulatory changes that would favor coal-fired power plants. They include providing plants with more time to comply with existing effluent limitations guidelines, which govern coal ash wastewater pollution, and an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on changes to the Clean Air Act’s regional haze rule.

U.S. production of coal has declined for more than two decades across Republican and Democratic administrations, with this most carbon emissions-intensive fuel displaced by natural gas, wind and solar power.

However, the Trump administration has been critical of wind and solar energy, blocking projects on federal lands and waters. Officials argue these forms of energy, even when paired with batteries, remain too unreliable and cannot support AI and other industries. In addition, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and others have criticized wind and solar power subsidies, arguing they are evidence these renewables are not cost-effective.

Instead, they have called for increased efforts to preserve and expand forms of baseload power, including coal. Earlier in 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to support the coal industry.

When addressing the United Nations, Trump reiterated his belief that climate change was a “hoax” and said European nations were on the “brink of destruction because of the green energy agenda.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a Sept. 25 Fox News interview that he agreed with Trump’s statements. Also last week, Wright characterized a network of scientists who agree about the severity of climate change and its impact as “activists.”

2025 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.