WASHINGTON, D.C. (WOAY)- “Pound for pound, coal is the single most reliable, durable, secure, and powerful form of energy,” said President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed 4 executive orders aimed to boost the coal industry. According to Trump, these orders will help reinvigorate America’s beautiful clean coal industry. West Virginia is the second leading state in the country in coal production.
So that brings up the question: How will this affect us here in the mountain state?
Coal will now be designated as a mineral under Executive Order 14241, entitling it to all the benefits of that order. These orders will allow some older coal-fired plants to keep producing electricity instead of retiring. It’ll also end the moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands.
“Well, it’s going to help us in every aspect of money, and it’s going to help us on the permitting side to get permits out when we have new when we have existing mines wanting to expand the new mines being considered,” explained Chris Hamilton, President of the West Virginia Coal Association. “So this will help to accelerate that permitting process and all the bureaucracy that coal mining permits, the heretofore experience.”
The orders are a reversal of goals set by the Biden administration, which included the phasing out of fossil fuels, including coal. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2023, 86 % of the states’ electricity came from coal power plants.
In a statement released after attending the executive order signing, Representative Carol Miller said, “I was honored to join President Trump at the white house as he unleashed American energy dominance through his executive orders to support the coal industry. Coal has powered West Virginia for generations, and I am committed to working with President Trump to ensure that it remains an available and reliable fuel source for the United States. Through these executive orders, the coal industry will be able to increase U.S. Energy supply, stabilize the grid, and create more jobs. No one works harder than a West Virginia coal miner, and I thank President Trump for his commitment to the coal industry and West Virginia.”
These orders are also aiming to increase energy production here in the United States, and bring in more American jobs. Currently, the number of coal miners has sunk to 40,000. That’s after being at 70,000 about 10 years ago.
“We’re taking historic action to help American workers, miners, families, and consumers,” said President Trump. “We’re ending Joe Biden’s war on beautiful clean coal once and for all, and it wasn’t just Biden, it was Obama and there were others, but we’re doing the exact opposite. And all those plants that have been closed are gonna be opened if they’re modern enough, or they’ll be ripped down and brand new ones will be built. We’re going to put the miners back to work.”
The West Virginia Coal Association says the coal industry benefits all of us.
“So he [President Trump] recognizes that you can’t replace coal, you can’t remove it out of the nation or state’s energy mix here is too valuable a place to too big of a role in our everyday, you know, the lifestyle and culture that we have that so dependent upon household electricity,” said Hamilton.
These orders come in the wake of rising U.S. power demands, especially with artificial intelligence. These orders actually push for the use of coal power for new ai data and steel production, according to the white house website.
Governor Morrisey released a statement urging West Virginia legislators to support Trump’s energy agenda and pass the Power Generation and Consumption Act.
“As America’s energy state, West Virginia must support President Trump’s efforts to increase the use of natural gas and coal to power the significant data needs of our country – our national security depends upon it,” said Governor Morrisey. “The Power Generation and Consumption Act will do just that by driving economic development, lowering taxes, protecting payers from rate increases, and growing West Virginia’s energy sector. Thank you to the many Legislators who are supporting the Trump Agenda here in West Virginia.”
