President Trump has extended a lifeline to the nation’s coal-fired power plants, which have been steadily declining for decades as Democrats pushed to shut them down over environmental concerns.
While President Biden imposed regulations that would effectively close nearly all U.S. coal plants by 2039, Trump is taking a different approach.
His administration has introduced a series of new policies designed to keep the plants operating and even restart some inactive coal plants, aiming to boost energy production and enhance U.S. competitiveness on the global stage. “We see this as the beginning of a major coal renaissance in this country,” said Chris Hamilton, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, according to the Washington Times.
There are approximately 210 coal-fired power stations still in operation in the U.S., many of which were slated for retirement. According to Hamilton, following Trump’s commitment to revive the coal industry, more than 40 coal-fired power plants that were scheduled to close this year have now decided to remain open. “Right here in our little state of West Virginia, we are taking measures as we speak to upgrade and retool these coal-fired generators so that they can run for many more decades and produce baseload electricity,” he said.
Hamilton praised the Trump administration for acting swiftly to roll back Biden- and Obama-era regulations that would have effectively ended coal-fired power plants within the next decade. Earlier this month, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans to dismantle the Biden administration’s power plant rule, which would have required coal plants to shut down unless they achieved an unrealistic 90% reduction in emissions.
The EPA is also re-evaluating stringent emissions standards for mercury, acid gases, and other pollutants released by coal-fired power plants, along with tight regulations on water pollution and coal ash disposal linked to these facilities. Trump administration officials argue that easing these restrictions will keep more coal plants operational and enable the reopening of recently shuttered facilities, helping to stabilize the electric grid amid surging energy demand.
“What we saw during the Obama and Biden administrations was a deliberate effort to try to regulate coal and other forms of energy out of existence,” Zeldin told The Washington Times. “That is the opposite of what we should be doing right now. Americans are desperate to be able to afford energy, and coal is a big component of the energy supply in many parts of this country. President Trump and EPA will do their part to deliver.”
The coal revival, however, faces a wave of legal challenges from environmental groups, who argue that coal is a major source of pollution and a significant driver of climate change. Coal’s share of U.S. energy production has been steadily declining, falling to about 15% last year—down from 25% in 2020 and nearly 50% in 2008. The shutdown of coal plants, along with Democratic efforts to scale back production from natural gas-fired facilities, has prompted warnings from energy regulators that the nation’s electrical grid is becoming increasingly vulnerable to brownouts and blackouts.
Democrats have pushed to transition the U.S. power grid away from fossil fuels by relying more heavily on renewable sources like wind and solar. However, because renewables are intermittent and weather-dependent, they have struggled to generate enough consistent power to fully replace fossil fuels such as coal, the Times reported.