Coal is dead and Trump’s executive order won’t revive it

Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders today to resuscitate the US coal industry – here’s why this is a complete waste of time.

Once again, using “emergency authority” by citing the growing power needs from data centers, EVs, and AI, the executive orders will allow some old coal-fired power plants scheduled for retirement to stay online.

The orders will also direct federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining barriers, and prioritize coal leasing on US lands.

An Obama-era moratorium that paused coal leasing on federal lands will officially be acknowledged and federal agencies will be required to scrap policies moving away from US coal production. Trump also wants to boost coal exports and speed up coal technology development.

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Electrek’s Take

The coal and mineral industry is happy about this executive order, as well as the EPA recently giving them a free pass to pollute, and the MAGA crowd might think this is great, but no one else thinks this clever.

Trump can try to pretend that coal is “clean,” but it doesn’t change the fact that coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels – its emissions killed 460,000 people between 1999 and 2020. Plus, it’s not even cost-effective – even natural gas is cheaper than coal. And these plants are old – the average age of the plants that are online is 53.

Coal has been in decline for a long time – it peaked in 2007. As I just wrote last month, coal fell to a record low of 15% of total electricity generation in the US in 2024, and wind and solar accounted for 17% of total electricity generation. That’s right – wind and solar successfully provided more power generation in the US than coal last year.

And while electricity demand will indeed skyrocket over the following decades, clean energy is capable of meeting that demand. The Energy Information Administration projects that in 2025, 93% of new power added to the US grid will be from solar, wind, and battery storage.

In an emailed statement, Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at the Natural Resources Defense Council, questioned whether a mandate for Americans to commute by horse and buggy would be next. It’s a fitting sentiment because the fact that I’m even writing a story in 2025 about why trying to revive coal is a bad idea feels ludicrous. Trump seems to forget he’s not William McKinley and this isn’t 1900.

Read more: Renewables to continue driving US power generation growth – EIA

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