WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders Tuesday aimed at boosting coal, a reliable but polluting energy source that’s long been in decline.
According to two senior White House officials, Trump will use his emergency authority to allow some older coal-fired power plants set for retirement to keep producing electricity to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence and electric cars. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue before the president’s announcement, expected Tuesday afternoon.
Trump, a Republican, has long promised to boost what he calls “beautiful” coal to fire power plants and for other uses, but the industry has been in decline for decades.
The orders expected Tuesday will direct federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining and prioritize coal leasing on U.S. lands, according to information from the White House officials.
The orders also will direct Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to “acknowledge the end” of an Obama-era moratorium that paused coal leasing on federal lands and require federal agencies to rescind policies transitioning the nation away from coal production.
The orders also seek to promote coal and coal technology exports and to accelerate development of coal technologies.
Trump has long suggested that coal can help meet surging electricity demand from manufacturing and the massive data centers needed for artificial intelligence.
“Nothing can destroy coal. Not the weather, not a bomb — nothing,” Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, by video link in January. “And we have more coal than anybody.”
Energy experts say any bump for coal under Trump is likely to be temporary because natural gas is cheaper and there’s a durable market for renewable energy such as wind and solar power no matter who holds the White House.
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Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
