WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Monday that it will unlock over 13 million acres for coal leasing on federal land, roll back regulations and invest $625 million into the coal industry as part of a multi-agency initiative.
The Department of the Interior (DOI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) all announced while at a DOI-hosted “beautiful, clean coal” event that the agencies will do their part to bolster the coal industry in line with President Donald Trump’s energy agenda. In contrast, the Biden administration imposed stringent regulations on the coal industry, with former President Joe Biden vowing to shut coal “plants down all across America,” which several energy sector experts explained to the Daily Caller News Foundation weakened grid reliability and jeopardized America’s edge in the artificial intelligence (AI) race with China.
“After years of the Obama-Biden administrations dismantling America’s coal industry and destroying thousands of good jobs, what do we have to show for it? A less reliable grid, higher electricity prices, and a stronger China, now the world’s largest coal consumer by far. President Trump is right to reverse course and embrace the most responsibly produced coal on the planet: American coal,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told the DCNF. “By opening 13 million acres for coal leasing and investing $625 million in coal-fired power, the administration is ensuring we have the reliable, affordable energy needed to power data centers, factories, and a growing economy. This is Energy Dominance in action. It strengthens our grid, creates jobs, and secures America’s energy future.”
LIVE: The @interiorpress47, the @EPA and the @ENERGY are announcing how the Trump administration will unleash coal production in the U.S.
“The battle for electricity is something we’re pursuing. … we can’t get there with intermittent, unreliable sources,” Interior Secretary… pic.twitter.com/7IvUf4LhIb
— Audrey Streb (@AudreyLStreb) September 29, 2025
LIVE: The The DOI announced plans to open more than 13 million acres of federal land for coal leasing, eclipsing the 4 million acres the agency is required to unlock under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced two proposed rules to ease regulations on the coal industry, including giving steam-electric power plants more time to comply with certain guidelines and beginning a process to revise the Regional Haze Rule.
Additionally, the DOE announced that it will commit $625 million to bolster the coal industry, which will include updating existing coal plants and investing in coal projects for rural communities among other initiatives.
These are the latest moves as part of President Donald Trump’s energy agenda, which has emphasized clearing hurdles for reliable, affordable energy sources like coal, natural gas and nuclear.
“President Trump promised to put American energy workers first, and today we’re delivering,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum Monday. “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.”
Burgum warned against America neglecting to charge forward in the AI race, noting that the U.S. cannot dominate the tech industry if it does not lead in electrical production. Though the Biden administration moved to develop AI, Biden focused on powering America through intermittent power sources like wind and solar while placing strict regulations on the coal industry and blocking new coal mining at the major federal hub known as the Powder River Basin.
Energy experts like Isaac and senior fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute Steve Milloy told the DCNF that the Trump administration’s efforts to unlock coal as an energy resource greatly contrasts with the Biden administration’s efforts to kneecap the industry.
“President Trump has promised to return America to energy dominance. Part of this includes reinvigorating the US coal industry that Obama and Biden all but destroyed for political reasons. President Trump has already begun the process to reverse the Obama EPA’s junk science-fueled war on coal plant emissions,” Millo told the DCNF. “Today, he is reversing Biden’s policy of ending coal mining on federal lands. But there is a long way to go. Much of the coal industry’s infrastructure has been wantonly destroyed and will need to be rebuilt. But as Jimmy Carter recognized in the 1970s, the US coal industry is vital to America’s success.”
Notably, Trump signed multiple executive orders to boost American coal production and mining to help “unleash American energy” as energy demand is on the rise while supply dwindles.
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