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.
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.
