‘Mine, baby, mine’: Trump officials offer $625 million to rescue coal

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Monday outlined a coordinated plan to revive the mining and burning of coal, the largest contributor to climate change worldwide.

Coal use has been declining sharply in the United States since 2005, displaced in many cases by cheaper and cleaner natural gas, wind and solar power.

But in a series of steps aimed at improving the economics of coal, the Interior Department said it would open 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal mining and reduce the royalty rates that companies would need to pay to extract coal. The Energy Department said it would offer $625 million to upgrade existing coal plants around the country, which have been closing at a fast clip, to extend their life spans.

The Environmental Protection Agency said it would repeal dozens of regulations set by the Biden administration to curb carbon dioxide, mercury and other pollutants from coal plants. The agency would also revise a regulation limiting wastewater pollution from power plants that the industry considers costly.

In what has become a familiar tableau, miners in hard hats stood as a backdrop as administration officials gathered at the Interior Department and repeated a phrase that President Donald Trump said he now expects of any employee who discusses the black, combustible rock: “clean, beautiful coal.”

The announcements came days after Trump told the United Nations General Assembly that the United States would “stand ready to provide any country with abundant, affordable energy supplies if you need them,” referring to liquefied natural gas, oil and coal. Trump has promoted the coal industry ever since campaigning frequently with coal miners 2016.

While coal plants once generated nearly half of America’s electricity, they produced just 16% last year. Hundreds of coal plants have retired since the mid-2000s as utilities switched to natural gas, wind and solar power. Stricter regulations on air and water pollution have also made burning coal more expensive. Coal mining, which has been linked to significant air pollution and water contamination as well as black lung disease in coal miners, has also faced increased federal restrictions.

“This is an industry that was under assault,” said Doug Burgum, the Interior secretary who along with Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, blamed regulations on what they described as an ideological war on coal. Chris Wright, the Energy secretary, said Monday morning on Fox that coal was “out of fashion with the chardonnay set in San Francisco; Boulder, Colorado; and New York City.”

The phrase “climate change” was not mentioned during the hourlong coal event. Instead, the officials described coal as an economic necessity. “In addition to drill, baby, drill, we need to mine, baby, mine,” Burgum said.

It is unclear how much the Trump administration can revitalize the industry.

© 2025 The New York Times Company