A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump wants to, quote, "unleash American energy," and he's called for policies to help the country's coal industry. But as KSUT's Adam Burke reports, the president's agenda may be at odds with the energy market itself.
ADAM BURKE, BYLINE: At a recent White House event, President Trump signed four executive orders while coal industry workers in uniforms and hard hats stood behind him.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're bringing back an industry that was abandoned.
BURKE: The new orders aim to sell more federally-owned coal, roll back regulations on pollution from burning it and even reopen coal-fired power plants.
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TRUMP: And all those plants that have been closed are going to be opened if they're modern enough or they'll be ripped down and brand-new ones will be built.
BURKE: This would mark a big reversal of U.S. energy policy. Coal is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. For more than 50 years, Democrats and Republicans have enacted laws and offered incentives to wean the nation off of coal power and accelerate the move toward renewable sources of energy.
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JEFF CROWE: For too long, coal has been a dirty word that most were afraid to speak about.
BURKE: Jeff Crowe, a coal mine manager from West Virginia, spoke at the ceremony.
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CROWE: But we are still strong. We are still here, and we are still needed in order to make America great again.
BURKE: Industry advocates say Trump's executive orders make sense.
MICHELLE BLOODWORTH: Electricity demand is expected to double by 2030.
BURKE: Michelle Bloodworth is CEO of America's Power, a coal industry trade organization.
BLOODWORTH: And with AI data centers resurgence and manufacturing, we need to make sure that these coal plants are not shut down by unnecessary regulations.
BURKE: In 2001, coal fueled more than half of domestic electricity production. Today, it's about 15%. And even with surging demand, energy analysts like Rob Gramlich are doubtful utilities will use more coal.
ROB GRAMLICH: I haven't heard of anybody considering building a new coal plant because the capital cost is much more expensive than, say, gas and renewable energy. And the operating - the day-to-day energy cost is much more expensive, as well.
BURKE: Gramlich is CEO of Grid Strategies, an energy markets consultancy based in Washington, D.C. He says over the past 20 years, hydraulic fracturing - or fracking - has made natural gas abundant and inexpensive.
GRAMLICH: I would say the main factor with coal's decline is really the rise of natural gas.
BURKE: The Trump administration argues it has emergency authority under the Federal Power Act to require utilities to keep coal plants running. But Gramlich says that would mean financial losses for utilities that someone will have to pay for.
GRAMLICH: So if taxpayers don't pay through the form of loans, grants, et cetera, and there isn't really authority in the government to do those, then it's ratepayers. And so the effect - one primary effect would be that electricity ratepayers have higher electricity bills every month.
BURKE: In his first term, Trump abandoned similar efforts to save coal after fierce opposition from oil, gas and renewable energy companies. During those four years, nearly 100 U.S. coal plants shut down. For NPR News, I'm Adam Burke.
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