On September 29, 2025, the Trump administration said that it is going to open 13 million acres of federal lands when it comes to coal mining and also offer $625 million to recommission or modernize coal-fired power plants as the U.S. President continues with his efforts to reverse the years-long dip in the U.S. coal sector.
Actions taken by the Energy and Interior departments, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), happen to follow the executive orders that have been issued by Trump in April 2025 so as to revive coal, which, although is dependable, but a polluting source of energy that has for long been shrinking due to a certain set of environmental regulations along with competition from the cheaper natural gas.
It is well to be noted that the environmental groups have gone on to denounce the actions, which occur as the Trump administration has clamped down on renewable energy, which includes freezing permits when it comes to offshore wind projects, ending the tax credits pertaining to clean energy, and also blocking solar projects as far as federal lands are concerned.
As per the order from Trump, the Energy Department needs fossil-fueled power plants across Michigan and Pennsylvania in order to keep operating beyond their retirement dates and therefore meet the growing power demand in the U.S. amid the progress in data centers, AI, and electric vehicles.
Apparently, the latest announcement is indeed going to enable those efforts to expand as a precaution against certain possible shortfalls in electricity. Trump has also gone on to direct the federal agencies to identify coal resources that are there on federal lands, lift barriers when it comes to coal mining, and, at the same time, prioritize coal leasing throughout the U.S. lands.
Interestingly, a sweeping tax bill, which has been approved by the Republicans and stamped by Trump, goes on to decrease the royalty rates when it comes to coal mining to 7% from 12.5%, which is indeed a significant dip, which officials said is going to help in ensuring that the U.S. coal producers can compete on the global stage.
Apparently, the new law also mandates growing availability for coal mining on the federal lands and streamlines the federal reviews as far as coal leases are concerned.
According to Doug Burgum, the Interior Secretary at a conference event, everybody likes to say – drill, baby, drill and he knows that President Trump has another initiative for them, which is to go ahead and mine. Lee Zardin, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, and Wells Griffith, the Energy Undersecretary, also spoke at the same event, with the three agencies signing orders to boost coal.
Through decreasing the royalty rate for coal, raising the coal acres available in terms of leasing, and unlocking the critical minerals coming from mine waste, they are indeed strengthening their economy and safeguarding the national security and at the same time also making sure that communities right from Montana to Alabama take advantage of good-paying jobs, said Burgum.
Apparently, Zeldin went on to call coal an energy source that’s dependable and that has supported the American communities as well as economic growth for generations.
He added that the Americans happen to be suffering due to the fact that the past administration attempted to apply heavy-handed regulations to coal as well as other forms of energy that they regarded to be unfavorable.
Clamping down on renewable energy
On the other hand, the environmental groups opined that Trump was wasting federal tax dollars by handing them to the owners of the oldest as well as the most expensive and dirtiest sources of electricity.
According to Ted Kelly, clean energy director from the Environmental Defense Fund, subsidizing coal goes on to mean propping up dirty as well as uncompetitive plants from the last century and hence saddling families because of their high costs as well as pollution. They indeed need modern as well as affordable clean energy solutions in order to power a modern economy; however, the Trump administration wants people to drag back to a 1950s electric grid.
Solar and wind, as well as battery storage, happen to be the cheapest and fastest ways to bring new power to the grid, Kelly, along with other advocates, said. Therefore, it makes no sense to cut off the best and the most affordable options while, at the same time, doubling down on the most expensive ones.
EPA makes the pollution rules seamless
On September 29, 2025, the EPA said that it is going to delay seven deadlines that are related to wastewater pollution coming from coal-fired power plants. The industry has already gone on to complain that the regulations that were imposed under former President Biden were costly and were designed to speed up the closure of coal plants.
Coal ash, which is waste from burning coal, can leach into the groundwater and could spread toxins. The Biden administration opined that the rules were aimed at keeping the arsenic and lead out of the well water, hence lowering cancer rates, and at the same time also avoiding disastrous spills.
According to the Beyond Coal Campaign from the Sierra Club, Laurie Williams, Donald Trump, and Lee Zeldin are giving a free hand to the big polluters to dump tons and tons of toxic pollution into the waterways, with no care as to how many Americans are going to suffer from drinking contaminated water or by way of eating contaminated food.
The EPA also went on to say that it will open a 60-day public comment period when it comes to potential changes to a regional haze rule, which has gone on to help reduce the pollution-fueled haze that happens to be hanging over the national parks, wilderness areas, and tribal reservations.
Zeldin had announced in March 2025 that the haze rule could very well be among dozens of landmark environmental regulations that he plans to either eliminate or roll back, including the 2009 finding in which climate change harms human health along with the environment.
The president and CEO of America’s Power, an industry group, Michelle Bloodworth remarked that the EPA rule changes, along with other administration actions, could very well help to safeguard the electric reliability of America and also preserve its fleet when it comes to coal-fired power plants.
Coal production has dropped significantly
Burgum, who also happens to chair the National Energy Dominance Council from Trump, opined that the actions that were announced on September 29, 2025, in addition to the tax law as well as the previous presidential and secretarial orders, will make sure of abundant and affordable energy while at the same time decreasing dependence on foreign sources of coal as well as minerals.
The Republican president has for long promised to boost what he calls beautiful coal in order to fire power plants and for certain other uses as well, but the industry has indeed been facing a dip for decades.
It is well to be noted that coal once provided more than 50% of U.S. electricity production; however, its share has dropped to almost 15% in 2024, which apparently has dropped from almost 45% as recently as 2010.
Apparently, natural gas offers almost 43% of U.S. electricity, with the remainder coming from nuclear energy as well as renewables like wind, solar, and hydropower.
According to the energy experts, any sort of bump for coal under Trump is going to be temporary since natural gas happens to be cheaper, and there is indeed a durable market as far as renewable energies like wind and solar power are concerned, no matter who has the reins of the White House.