The Biden administration’s push to revitalise coal through regulatory and land-use reforms faces mounting challenges from falling market share for coal, rising renewable capacity, and environmental opposition, signalling a limited window for a large-scale resurgence.
United States policy under President Donald J. Trump has mounted an aggressive push to revive coal, but industry observers and market data suggest the window for a large-scale comeback is narrow.
Since taking office, the administration has used executive actions and regulatory reversals to try to restore coal’s role in the power mix. According to a White House fact sheet, an April 2025 executive order directed the National Energy Dominance Council to designate coal as a “mineral” under Executive Order 14241 and to remove obstacles to mining and leasing on federal lands. The Department of the Interior in September announced the opening of roughly 13.1 million acres for coal leasing, the department said, and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum hailed steps to expand access and cut royalty rates as measures to boost jobs and domestic supply chains. “President Trump promised to put American energy workers first, and today we’re delivering,” Burgum said in September. “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. Washington doesn’t build prosperity, American workers and entrepreneurs do, and we’re giving them the tools to succeed.”
The administration has paired land and leasing initiatives with financial incentives and regulatory easing. The Department of Energy unveiled funding intended to bolster the coal fleet, and a November-era legislative cut to coal royalties was explicitly designed to improve mining economics. The EPA has also moved to relax pollution controls: agency officials announced a rollback of tightened Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in February 2026, with EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi saying the change will “right the wrongs of the last administration’s rule.” Separately, the EPA proposed postponing strict coal-ash disposal requirements for a group of older plants, a step that could extend operations at facilities otherwise facing closure.
The administration frames these measures as matters of grid reliability, national security and economic revival. Interior officials have argued that a larger domestic coal supply underpins electrification and supports strategic sectors, and a February 2026 presidential order directed the Department of War to prioritise long-term power purchase agreements with coal generators serving military and critical defence sites, the White House said, citing mission-assurance goals.
Yet market forces and recent generation trends complicate any prospect of a broad coal renaissance. Industry data show that wind and solar together overtook coal in U.S. electricity generation in 2024, producing 17% of power versus coal’s 15%, a structural shift documented by independent analysts. Utilities increasingly opt for lower-cost capacity additions such as renewables paired with battery storage, natural gas and, in some cases, new nuclear projects. Investment flows have followed those economics: far more coal units have been retired than built in the past two decades, and prospective new coal capacity is effectively absent from current development pipelines.
Export dynamics further constrain upside. Asian and Australian suppliers generally offer thermal coal at lower delivered cost than U.S. producers, and shorter shipping times from exporters such as Indonesia make it difficult for U.S. producers to expand market share overseas, analysts say. The coal workforce has also shrunk substantially , from roughly 91,600 in 2011 to about 45,500 in 2023 , leaving the sector with an ageing labour base and limited immediate capacity to scale up mining and plant operations rapidly.
Environmental and public-health stakeholders warn that regulatory relaxations will have consequences. Reporting by major outlets has highlighted concerns that weakening updated emissions monitoring and limits will increase releases of mercury, lead and other toxic pollutants, with attendant risks for respiratory and neurological health. Legal challenges to the EPA’s rollbacks are expected, according to coverage in the mainstream press.
Taken together, the policy package is likely to keep some plants open longer and to provide relief for struggling operators, but it faces an uphill battle against entrenched market trends. The cost trajectory for renewables and storage, the absence of new coal projects in active development, international competitive pressures and a diminished domestic labour pool all point to structural limits on how far coal can rebound.
The administration insists the measures will shore up reliability and sovereign capability. Interior officials and the White House frame expanded leasing, royalty relief and regulatory reform as steps to secure jobs and harden critical infrastructure. However, independent electricity-sector analyses and observed investment patterns indicate that, while coal may persist as part of the generation mix for years at some sites, a comprehensive reversal to pre-decline levels would require a material change in economics, supply chains and workforce capacity , a shift that has not yet appeared on the horizon.
- https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/The-Last-Stand-for-King-Coal.html – Please view link – unable to able to access data
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-reinvigorates-americas-beautiful-clean-coal-industry/ – In April 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at revitalising America’s clean coal industry. The order directs the National Energy Dominance Council to designate coal as a ‘mineral’ under Executive Order 14241, entitling it to associated benefits. It also mandates relevant agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, remove barriers to coal mining, and prioritise coal leasing. Additionally, the Secretary of the Interior is instructed to acknowledge the end of the Jewell Moratorium, which had paused coal leasing on federal lands. The order requires agencies to rescind policies that transition the nation away from coal production or establish preferences against coal as a generation resource. Furthermore, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is directed to assist agencies in adopting coal-related categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
- https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-unleashes-american-coal-power-bold-move-advance-trump-administration – In September 2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the opening of 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal leasing, a move that triples the benchmarks set by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This initiative aims to strengthen domestic supply chains and secure reliable energy, aligning with President Donald J. Trump’s directive to restore American Energy Dominance. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum signed this policy during an event focused on advancing ‘Beautiful Clean Coal.’ The announcement was reinforced by complementary initiatives signed by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Department of Energy Undersecretary P. Wells Griffith.
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-strengthens-united-states-national-defense-with-americas-beautiful-clean-coal-power-generation-fleet/ – In February 2026, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order directing the Department of War to prioritise long-term Power Purchase Agreements with America’s clean coal fleet to ensure military installations and critical defense facilities have uninterrupted, on-demand baseload power. The order instructs the Secretary of War, in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, to approve such agreements with coal-fired energy production facilities serving Department of War installations and other mission-critical facilities. Priority is given to projects that enhance grid reliability, prevent blackouts, and ensure mission assurance for defense and intelligence capabilities. This initiative underscores the administration’s commitment to strengthening the electric grid and recognising the critical role of clean coal in ensuring reliable energy, national security, and economic stability.
- https://www.apnews.com/article/b770d6efd05f19ed24b179511c726196 – On February 20, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration rolled back tighter regulations on mercury and toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants. The EPA announced the repeal of the tightened Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule, or MATS, at a coal plant in Louisville, Kentucky. EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi stated that the action would ‘right the wrongs of the last administration’s rule’ and return the industry to the original MATS standards, which had been established during the Obama era. The rollback is part of the administration’s broader efforts to boost the fossil fuel industry by reducing clean air and water regulations.
- https://www.time.com/7380172/trump-mercury-coal-plant-pollution/ – In a significant regulatory rollback, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump Administration has weakened the Biden-era amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), allowing coal-burning power plants to emit more mercury, lead, and other toxic pollutants. These amendments, implemented in 2024, had mandated continuous emissions monitoring and stricter pollution limits. Although the older 2012 MATS limits remain in place—and nearly all U.S. coal plants already meet those—experts warn that repealing the updated standards will increase public health risks. The EPA claims the rule change could save up to $670 million, citing economic growth and energy reliability. However, environmental and health advocates argue this ignores serious health consequences, including increased risks of asthma, cancer, and neurological damage, especially in children. Critics also see this as part of a broader pro-coal agenda by the Trump Administration, including keeping plants open and investing in coal infrastructure. Legal challenges to the rollback are expected.
- https://www.reglobal.org/us-electricity-2025-ember/ – In 2024, wind and solar energy combined produced more electricity than coal in the United States for the first time. Wind and solar accounted for 17% of U.S. electricity generation, surpassing coal, which dropped to 15%. This shift marks a significant milestone in the U.S. energy sector, indicating a rapid decline in coal usage and a substantial increase in renewable energy adoption. The decline in coal generation is part of a broader trend observed across OECD countries, where coal generation fell to just 17% of total electricity generation in 2023, down from 36% at its peak in 2007. The rise of cheaper and cleaner alternatives, such as wind energy, has forced a decline in investment in the coal sector in recent years. U.S. utilities are increasingly favouring cleaner energy additions, such as battery storage, gas, and nuclear power to new coal-fired capacity due to the lower cost and greater efficiency of such projects.
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The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
8
Notes:
The article was published on February 21, 2026, which is recent. However, the content discusses ongoing policies and market trends that have been evolving over the past few years, indicating that the narrative may be a synthesis of existing information rather than presenting entirely new developments. This raises concerns about the originality of the content.
Quotes check
Score:
7
Notes:
The article includes direct quotes from Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi. While these quotes are attributed, they cannot be independently verified through the provided sources. The lack of verifiable sources for these quotes is a significant concern, as it casts doubt on their authenticity and accuracy.
Source reliability
Score:
6
Notes:
The article is published on OilPrice.com, a platform that aggregates content from various sources. This raises questions about the independence and reliability of the information presented. Additionally, the article appears to be summarizing and reinterpreting existing reports, which may lead to a lack of original reporting and potential biases in the presentation of information.
Plausibility check
Score:
7
Notes:
The article discusses the Trump administration’s efforts to revive the coal industry, including policy changes and regulatory rollbacks. While these actions are plausible given the administration’s previous stances, the article does not provide new evidence or data to support the claims made, relying instead on general industry knowledge and prior reports. This lack of new supporting detail raises questions about the depth and originality of the reporting.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): FAIL
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM
Summary:
The article presents a synthesis of existing information on the Trump administration’s efforts to revive the coal industry, without offering new insights or verifiable sources for key claims. The reliance on aggregated content and unverifiable quotes raises significant concerns about the originality and accuracy of the reporting. Given these issues, the content does not meet the necessary standards for publication under our editorial guidelines.
