There is perhaps no greater sign of the coal industry’s decline than the Trump administration’s demand this week that the Pentagon purchase more of the fossil fuel. If powering military bases with coal-fired plants was the best option, no edict from the government would be necessary.
President Donald Trump justified his executive order on Wednesday by invoking the nation’s “Energy Emergency.” He also announced that the federal government would use taxpayer dollars from a $525 million fund at the Energy Department to upgrade four aging coal plants to “to keep them online and keep those plants open.”
This is part of a broader strategy by the administration to prop up the ailing industry with taxpayer dollars. Washington has already forced multiple coal plants to remain open beyond their scheduled retirements, trampling local control over energy projects and driving up electricity prices. Last year, it added coal to the Interior Department’s critical mineral list, granting it priority treatment in federal investments and permitting decisions. The administration even created a cartoon mascot named “Coalie” to promote the industry.
These are feeble and costly attempts to halt the market forces driving a transition to cleaner energy. A little more than two decades ago, coal generated most of the country’s electricity. Today it contributes 15 percent. Competition from cheaper sources of energy, especially natural gas, made that happen — not government. Non-carbon energy sources such as solar and wind, which together already eclipse coal’s output, have also cut into the business.
The country needs more energy to sustain growth, but that only underscores the need for the government to get out of the way. It is telling that despite these economic forces, no new coal plants have been under development for more than a decade. And it’s because investors understand that other technologies are becoming cheaper and come with far fewer health and environmental consequences.
The political calculus here is also off. In 2024, the entire coal mining industry employed fewer than 43,000 people in a country with a 172 million person labor force. Is subsidizing those jobs worth the anger that Americans will feel as their utility bills tick upward?
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