Key facts
- President Trump will invoke the Defense Production Act to support the coal industry.
- The support package is valued at nearly $700 million.
- Funds will be used for upgrading coal power plants and financing new ones.
- A West Coast coal export terminal may receive funding.
- The White House frames energy policy as a national security issue.
President Donald Trump announced he will invoke the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law granting presidents broad authority over industries deemed critical to national security, to direct nearly $700 million to support the U.S. coal industry. The plan includes $425 million for upgrades at more than a dozen coal-fired power plants, $75 million to support the proposed West Gateway coal export terminal in Oakland, California, and up to $350 million in previously announced funding for four coal facility projects, including new power plants in Alaska and West Virginia. The White House frames energy policy as a national security issue, aiming to ensure electricity for AI data centers and reduce reliance on other countries. Environmental advocates, such as the Sierra Club, have condemned the plan as a taxpayer-funded subsidy for a polluting industry, while the National Mining Association views the funding as strengthening a fuel source that insulates consumers from energy price volatility. Coal's share of U.S. electricity generation has fallen to less than one-fifth from over half in 1990, as utilities shifted to cheaper natural gas and renewables. The number of working U.S. coal miners has fallen from about 51,500 in 2017 to about 39,800 last year.