Coal Given a Free Pass and Free Cash 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a misplaced bid to prop up the long-dwindling coal industry, the Trump administration announced a handout of $625 million to owners of old coal plants and said it would delay rules to cut those plants’ air and water pollution. The U.S. Department of the Interior also said it plans to boost coal mining on public lands by offering 13.1 million acres for lease.  

Coal comes with enormous health costs. Its pollution costs up to $26 billion a year in additional emergency room visits, more strokes and heart attacks, and childhood asthma, one study found.   

The following is comment from Amanda Levin, director for policy analysis at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): 
 
"The Trump administration is hell-bent on supporting one of the oldest, dirtiest electricity sources. It’s handing our hard-earned tax dollars over to the owners of plants that cost more to run than new, clean energy, while giving those plants a free pass to keep polluting. Propping up coal means dirtier air and water, destruction of public lands, and higher utility bills for struggling families.  

This is a colossal waste of money at a time when the federal government should be spurring along the new energy sources that can power the AI boom and help bring down utility bills.” 

The following is a comment from Bobby McEnaney, director of land conservation at NRDC: 

“Throwing open 13 million acres of public lands to coal mining while dismantling basic pollution safeguards is a senseless assault on the places Americans cherish. This plan sacrifices clean air and water and shifts costs onto communities to prop up a declining industry. Public lands should be managed for people, wildlife, and a stable climate—not as a bailout for coal.” 

Background

• Last year, for the first time, wind and solar produced more electricity than coal in the United States. The International Energy Agency says that could happen at the global level by the end of next year.
• Coal plants were the largest source of electricity generation 15 years ago, generating about half of U.S. electricity. Today, the U.S. Department of Energy is setting a goal of having coal be 15–16 percent of power generation. 
• While electricity demand in the United States could grow as much as 25 percent by 2030, there are no new coal plants planned, and dozens of coal plants are slated to retire due to age and costs over the next few years. The only near-term solution to meet growing demand is affordable renewable energy and storage.
• There is more wind, solar, and storage waiting to get connected to the grid than the total U.S. electricity capacity now. If this power can get hooked up, it will be a huge win for reliability and consumer costs.
• While the administration is propping up zombie coal plants, it has canceled incentives for renewable energy and moved to block solar, wind, and offshore wind projects.  
• Federal acreage under lease for coal mining has fallen to just over 400,000 acres, which is 31 times less than the administration is planning to open today.
• Coal production in the United States has exceeded demand since at least the 1950s, and America has been a net exporter of coal since that time. 

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).