By Stephen Smoot
“It is the policy of the United States that coal is essential to our national and economic security.”
That statement leads section two of an executive order, released on April 8. In the President’s signature style, the order received the title of “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241.”
Executive orders that come from the President are defined by the American Bar Association as “a signed, written, and published directive from the President of the United States that manages operations of the federal government.”
The ABA goes on to state that “Executive orders are not legislation; they require no approval from Congress, and Congress cannot simply overturn them. Congress may pass legislation that might make it difficult, or even impossible, to carry out the order, such as removing funding. Only a sitting U.S. President may overturn an existing executive order by issuing another executive order to that effect.”
President Trump’s order states the purpose of restoring a regulatory regime that works for, and not against, the extraction of coal and its use to promote electric power use. It leads off by asserting “in order to secure America’s economic prosperity and national security, lower the cost of living, and provide for increases in electrical demand from emerging technologies, we must increase domestic energy production, including coal.”
One of the major goals, in addition to promoting the production, use, and export of American mined coal, “is ensuring that Federal policy does not discriminate against coal production or coal-fired electricity generation.”
This order represents a revision of a previously issued order, not a new one. It serves as the most recent step in the new administration’s effort to produce a stronger foundation for American energy production.
According to a February article from The Diplomat, Red China has developed a significant edge in developing artificial intelligence infrastructure over the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world.
“One major advantage is China’s low electricity prices,” it states, then adds that “amid the AI boom, electricity requirements are expected to surge.”
West Virginia traditionally had enjoyed lower energy prices, but those have risen in recent years. Last year, the West Virginia Public Service Commission heard requests to raise rates in state. These mostly came about as power companies sought to cover added expenses from Biden Administration environmental mandates. Across the nation, as The Diplomat reports, “e;ectricity costs in the US are more than double those in China.” Americans pay an average of 18 cents per kilowatt hour, Red China customers pay eight.
Those in Western Europe pay between 30 and 40 cents per KW while the Japanese pay an average of 22.
A direct correlation exists between higher electric power rates, caused by what some consider excessive environmental regulations, and America’s relative decline vis-a-vis the nation’s largest global adversary.
President Trump’s first move lay in establishing the National Energy Dominance Council, composed of Cabinet secretaries from the departments of State, Treasury, Defense, Agriculture, Commerce, and Transportation, the Attorney General, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and a number of other agency heads.
Its purpose lies in providing advice to the President on expanding energy production, provide a National Energy Dominance Strategy, “facilitate cooperation in energy production policies among the Federal Government and private sector energy partners,” and a number of other tasks related to rebuilding American dominance in energy production.
The first step of the revised order lay in designating and defining coal as a “mineral.” The original Executive Order 14241 from March 20 established that “‘Mineral’ means a critical mineral” defined in the United States Code.
That section of code explains that a “Critical mineral (A) In general The term “critical mineral” means any mineral, element, substance, or material designated as critical by the Secretary under subsection (c). (B) Exclusions The term “critical mineral” does not include— (i) fuel minerals; (ii) water, ice, or snow; (iii) common varieties of sand, gravel, stone, pumice, cinders, and clay.”
Adding coal as a defined mineral under federal law opens up coal to joining minerals defined under the code and the March 20 Executive Order. These include uranium, copper, potash, gold, “and any other element, compound, or material as determined by the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council.”
While fuel producing minerals was included in earlier orders, now coal is specifically mentioned.
The March 20 order directed federal departments and agencies “involved in the permitting of mineral production in the United States” to identify priority projects and expedite their approval. Additionally, the Secretary of the Interior was ordered to provide a list of mineral-bearing lands under federal ownership that could be accessed “consistent with applicable law.” Financial assistance was also opened up for such projects through the Department of Agriculture and United States Small Business Administration.
The revision specifically directs federal agencies tapped to assist in the production of other essential minerals to specifically work, for example, to identify reserves of coal on federal lands, craft ways for coal mining and power production projects to bypass the National Environmental Policy Act that requires lengthy environmental impact assessments on a broad variety of projects, and requests that the Secretary of Energy work to determine if the government should add coal to its “critical mineral” list.
“Critical mineral” definitions come under the Energy Act of 2020 that identifies “those that are essential to the economic or national security of the United States.”
A statement from the United Mine Workers of America expressed strong support for President Trump’s orders. It advised that “we strongly encourage the administration to look ahead and develop a comprehensive, long-term strategy for the coal industry – one that includes robust support for research, innovation, and technological advancement.”
The UMWA warned that “coal miners and their communities need more than a temporary reprieve. We want coal workers to have good, stable jobs, not just for the next four years, but for the next 40.”
The Sierra Club expressed opposition to President Trump’s orders, asserting that “politicians fly through coal country with false promises about revitalizing industry when what they mean is milking the last bit of profits out of Appalachia for the benefit of executives and shareholders.”
That said, West Virginia’s elected leaders expressed support. Governor Patrick Morrisey tied the development to his signature economic initiative designed to diversify the state economy through developing high technology infrastructure.
In a statement, Governor Morrisey expressed strong support, stating “as America’s energy state, West Virginia must support President Trump’s efforts to increase the use of natural gas and coal to power the significant data needs of our country – our national security depends on it.”
Governor Morrisey tied the orders to his initiative, “The Power Generation and Consumption Act” designed to spur creation of power producing microgrids to provide energy to data center development critical to artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, long-time supporters of the industry, expressed support and appreciation, as well as optimism for the positive potential impacts of the move..
Newly elected Representative Riley Moore was quoted in a statement as saying “President Trump is the first president in my lifetime to highlight the critical need for coal to power our economy and ensure national security. Today’s executive order confirms our new Golden Age will be coal fired!”
