As projections of U.S. , President Donald Trump is looking to coal – historically a – as a key part of the solution.
In an April 2025 executive order, for instance, Trump to to order the owners of to keep the plants running.
He also directed federal agencies to “” and ease the process for leasing and mining coal on those lands. In addition, he issued orders to exclude coal-related projects from environmental reviews, and potentially subsidize the production of coal as a national security resource.
But there remain limits to the president’s power to slow the declining use of coal in the U.S. And while efforts continue to overcome these limits and prop up coal, mining coal remains an ongoing danger to workers: In 2025, there have been in West Virginia and at in the U.S.
A long legacy
Until 2015, coal-fired power plants type of fuel in the U.S. But with the rapid expansion of a , natural gas became a cheap and stable source for power generation. The prices of solar and wind power also dropped steadily. These alternatives ultimately in the U.S. power supply.
Before this change, coal mining defined the economy and culture of many U.S. towns – and some states and regions, such as and – for decades. And in many small towns, coal-related businesses, including power plants, were .
Coal has both benefits and drawbacks. It provides a reliable fuel source for electricity that can be without needing a tank or underground facility for storage.
But it’s dirty: Thousands of coal miners developed a disease called . The federal government pays for medical care for some sick miners and makes of miners who die prematurely. Burning coal also emits multiple air pollutants, in the United States from 1999 through 2020.
Coal is dangerous for workers, too. Some coal-mining companies have had abysmal safety records, leading to , such as the recent in a sudden flood in a West Virginia mine. Safety reforms have been implemented since the in 2010, and coal miner deaths in the U.S. have since declined. But coal mining remains a hazardous job.
A champion of coal
In both of his terms, Trump has championed the revival of coal. In 2017, for example, Trump’s Department of Energy asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to higher rates than the competitive market would pay, saying they were key to keeping the U.S. electricity grid running. The .
In his second term, Trump is more broadly using , and he is seeking to subsidize coal – in mining, power plants and exports.
At least some of the urgency is coming from the rapid construction of data centers for artificial intelligence, which the . Many individual data centers use as much power as a . There’s enough generation capacity to power them, though only by and that operate only during peak demand periods. Using those plants would require data centers to reduce their electricity use during those peaks – .
So many data centers, desperate for 24/7 electricity, are relying on – buying electricity from plants that otherwise would be shutting down.
Limits remain
Despite the Trump adminstration’s efforts to rapidly expand data centers and coal to power them, than most other fuels for power generation, with costs still rising.
within the past two decades, and due to a , such as rising mining costs, environmental regulation and competition from cheaper sources. Coal in the midst of the tariff wars.
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s recent effort to follow Trump’s orders and lease more coal on federal lands received only one bid – at a historically low price of . But in fact, even if the government gave its coal away for free, it would still make more economic sense for utilities to build power plants that use other fuels. This is due to the as compared to new natural gas and renewable infrastructure.
– and, in some places, so are renewable energy and battery storage. Government efforts to prevent the retirement of coal-fired power plants and boost the demand for coal may slow coal’s decline in the short term. In the long term, however, as a part of the U.S. electricity mix.
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