Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Reinvigorates America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry

TLDR

This executive order makes false claims about coal’s current job numbers, economic viability, and environmental impact. It misleadingly promotes “clean coal” despite CCS technology remaining economically unviable, ignores coal’s declining market position against cheaper renewables, contains factually incorrect claims about data centers’ energy needs, and proposes legally questionable regulatory changes that likely violate environmental laws. The order prioritizes ideology over energy market realities and risks delaying transition to cheaper, cleaner alternatives.

There are numerous false claims in this “fact” sheet for the “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241” executive order/amendment.

1. “Coal Supports Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs”

   • The claim of “hundreds of thousands” of coal jobs is outdated. As of December 2024, the U.S. coal mining industry employed 42,600 workers, a 55% decline since 2011. Even coal-friendly analyses from 2021 estimated only 136,000 total jobs linked to coal production and power generation, far below historical levels. Market forces—not regulation—drive this decline, as automation and cheaper renewables/natural gas dominate energy markets.

2. “Clean Coal” and Environmental Claims

• The term “clean coal” is misleading:
  • Carbon capture and storage (CCS) remains economically unviable without massive subsidies, with only two operational CCS coal plants in the U.S. as of 2025.
  • Coal is still the largest U.S. electricity-sector CO₂ emitter (55% of emissions), and burning it releases mercury, sulfur dioxide, and particulate pollution linked to 3,800 annual premature deaths.
  • Mountaintop removal mining has destroyed 2,000+ miles of Appalachian headwater streams, while acid mine drainage contaminates waterways with heavy metals.

3. “Coal Critical for AI Data Centers”

   • Major tech companies (Google, Microsoft) have committed to 24/7 renewable energy for data centers by 2030. Solar and wind now cost 40% less per megawatt-hour than coal, making coal-powered AI infrastructure economically and environmentally nonsensical.

4. Economic Viability of Coal

   • U.S. coal production has halved since its 2008 peak due to market forces, not regulation.
   • Renewable energy investments created 279,447 solar jobs in 2023 alone—over six times total coal mining employment.
   • The claim that coal adds “tens of billions” to the economy ignores the $43.5 billion in annual environmental and health costs from coal-related pollution.

5. Legal and Regulatory Conflicts

   • Reviving the Jewell Moratorium violates the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which mandates environmental reviews for federal land use.
   • Designating coal as a “mineral” to bypass environmental safeguards faces likely court challenges, similar to previous failed Trump-era coal policies.

6. “Energy Dominance” vs. Reality

   • While the order claims to “unleash American energy,” U.S. coal exports have dropped 36% since 2012 due to global decarbonization efforts. Meanwhile, renewable energy provided 23% of U.S. electricity in 2024—surpassing coal for the first time.

The referenced executive order prioritizes ideological commitments over energy market realities, ignoring coal’s irreversible decline in favor of costly subsidies and legally dubious shortcuts. It risks locking the U.S. into outdated infrastructure while delaying investments in cheaper, cleaner alternatives.