Trump administration opens more land for coal mining, offers $625M to
boost coal-fired power plants
[September 30, 2025] By
MATTHEW DALY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday it will open 13
million acres of federal lands for coal mining and provide $625 million
to recommission or modernize coal-fired power plants as President Donald
Trump continues his efforts to reverse the years-long decline in the
U.S. coal industry.
Actions by the Energy and Interior departments and the Environmental
Protection Agency follow executive orders Trump issued in April to
revive coal, a reliable but polluting energy source that’s long been
shrinking amid environmental regulations and competition from cheaper
natural gas.
Environmental groups denounced the actions, which come as the Trump
administration has clamped down on renewable energy, including freezing
permits for offshore wind projects, ending clean energy tax credits and
blocking wind and solar projects on federal lands.
Under Trump’s orders, the Energy Department has required fossil-fueled
power plants in Michigan and Pennsylvania to keep operating past their
retirement dates to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data
centers, artificial intelligence and electric cars. The latest
announcement would allow those efforts to expand as a precaution against
possible electricity shortfalls.
Trump also has directed federal agencies to identify coal resources on
federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining and prioritize coal leasing
on U.S. lands. A sweeping tax bill approved by Republicans and signed by
Trump reduces royalty rates for coal mining from 12.5% to 7%, a
significant decrease that officials said will help ensure U.S. coal
producers can compete in global markets.
‘Mine, baby, mine’
The new law also mandates increased availability for coal mining on
federal lands and streamlines federal reviews of coal leases.
“Everybody likes to say, ‘drill, baby, drill.’ I know that President
Trump has another initiative for us, which is ‘mine, baby, mine,’”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at a news conference Monday at
Interior headquarters. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee
Zeldin and Energy Undersecretary Wells Griffith also spoke at the event.
All three agencies signed orders boosting coal.
“By reducing the royalty rate for coal, increasing coal acres available
for leasing and unlocking critical minerals from mine waste, we are
strengthening our economy, protecting national security and ensuring
that communities from Montana to Alabama benefit from good-paying jobs,"
Burgum said.
Zeldin called coal a reliable energy source that has supported American
communities and economic growth for generations.
“Americans are suffering because the past administration attempted to
apply heavy-handed regulations to coal and other forms of energy it
deemed unfavorable," he said.
Trump has clamped down on renewable energy
Environmental groups said Trump was wasting federal tax dollars by
handing them to owners of the oldest, most expensive and dirtiest source
of electricity.
“Subsidizing coal means propping up dirty, uncompetitive plants from
last century – and saddling families with their high costs and
pollution, said Ted Kelly, clean energy director for the Environmental
Defense Fund. “We need modern, affordable clean energy solutions to
power a modern economy, but the Trump administration wants to drag us
back to a 1950s electric grid.''
[to top of second column] |
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum watches as President Donald Trump
speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One while en route to Joint
Base Andrews, Md. after attending a memorial for conservative
activist Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Ariz., Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025.
(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
 Solar, wind and battery storage are
the cheapest and fastest ways to bring new power to the grid, Kelly
and other advocates said. "It makes no sense to cut off your best,
most affordable options while doubling down on the most expensive
ones,” Kelly said.
EPA eases pollution rules
The EPA said Monday it will delay seven deadlines related to
wastewater pollution from coal-fired power plants. The industry has
complained that regulations imposed under the Biden administration
were costly and designed to speed the closure of coal plants.
Coal ash, the waste from burning coal, can leach into groundwater
and spread toxins. The Biden administration said the rules were
aimed at keeping arsenic and lead out of well water, lowering cancer
rates and avoiding disastrous spills.
"Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin are giving big polluters a pass to dump
tons and tons of toxic pollution into our waterways, with no care
for how many Americans will suffer from drinking contaminated water
or eating contaminated food,'' said Laurie Williams, who directs the
Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign.
The EPA also said it will open a 60-day public comment period on
potential changes to a regional haze rule that has helped reduce
pollution-fueled haze hanging over national parks, wilderness areas
and tribal reservations. Zeldin announced in March that the haze
rule would be among dozens of landmark environmental regulations
that he plans to roll back or eliminate, including a 2009 finding
that climate change harms human health and the environment.
Michelle Bloodworth, president and CEO of America’s Power, an
industry group, said the EPA rule changes and other administration
actions would help to “protect America’s electric reliability and
preserve its fleet of coal-fired power plants.”
Coal production has dropped steeply
Burgum, who also chairs Trump's National Energy Dominance Council,
said the actions announced Monday, along with the tax law and
previous presidential and secretarial orders, will ensure "abundant,
affordable energy while reducing reliance on foreign sources of coal
and minerals.''
The Republican president has long promised to boost what he calls
“beautiful” coal to fire power plants and for other uses, but the
industry has been in decline for decades.
Coal once provided more than half of U.S. electricity production,
but its share dropped to about 15% in 2024, down from about 45% as
recently as 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of U.S.
electricity, with the remainder from nuclear energy and renewables
such as wind, solar and hydropower.
Energy experts say any bump for coal under Trump is likely to be
temporary because natural gas is cheaper, and there’s a durable
market for renewable energy such as wind and solar power no matter
who holds the White House.
___
Associated Press writer Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin
contributed to this story.
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