President Donald Trump has announced a $700 million investment in coal, and Mountain West states could play a major role. The administration says it aims to keep electricity prices low, while critics say the effort will only increase rates, hurt the environment and put human health at risk.
In a June 4 press conference, Trump referred to the energy source that’s been in decline for almost two decades as “beautiful, clean coal.”
“You're not allowed to say ‘coal’ within the Trump administration unless it's preceded by the words, ‘clean, beautiful,’” he said to a room of reporters.
Invoking his wartime authority through the Defense Production Act, Trump said $425 million will go toward extending the lives of 13 coal plants nationwide, including one in the Mountain West, paying for upgrades and reinforcing grid reliability.
The Arizona Electric Power Cooperative is one recipient of those funds. Wyoming and New Mexico are among the states supplying coal to those funded plants.
Another $200 million will go toward opening two new coal plants — one in Alaska and another in West Virginia — and restarting one in Maryland.
Plus, $75 million in Department of Energy funds will support the construction of a coal export terminal in Oakland, California, which has been held off by the Biden administration. The Trump administration said coal communications in Wyoming, Utah and across the West will “benefit tremendously” from the new port.
“So to be able to open that Oakland port is absolutely essential for the lifeblood of our state and for our coal mines,” said Wyoming’s Republican Gov. Mark Gordon, who was part of a group of governors, congresspeople and other officials flanking Trump in the Oval Office as he made the announcement.
Wyoming is the largest producer of coal in the U.S.
“We don't mine coal the way we used to at all,” Gordon said. “It is very, very technologically proficient, and what's more important, it's environmentally sound.”
But the think tank Center for American Progress said burning more coal will worsen climate change and increase deadly pollution that can cause higher rates of cancer and lung disease.
“This agenda serves only the fossil fuel industry and does nothing to help Americans struggling with rising utility and energy costs,” Shannon Baker-Branstetter, senior director for Climate and Energy Policy at the Center for American Progress, said in a statement.
At the same time as the Trump administration makes its latest investment in the coal industry, it is blocking development of wind or solar energy, which the Environmental Defense Fund says is cleaner and more affordable.
U.S. coal production has dropped 56.2% since it peaked in 2008, according to federal data. West of the Mississippi River, it's gone down by 58.1% since it peaked that same year.
“At a time when we need more power on the grid, doubling down on one of the most expensive, polluting energy sources is the worst possible answer,” Ted Kelly, director and lead counsel of U.S. Clean Energy at the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a press release.
Much of the new $700 million investment comes through the Defense Production Act, which federal agencies use to “ensure resources critical to national security are available during a public emergency,” according to the U.S. Governmental Accountability Office. For example, the country spent $3.2 billion to secure equipment like gloves and masks during its COVID-19 response.
Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office, saying, “Energy security is an increasingly crucial theater of global competition.”
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
