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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsPresident Donald Trump’s April 8, 2025 coal policy package directed federal agencies to encourage coal leasing and mining, review rules and policies affecting the industry, and explore support for coal-related projects. It did not itself prove that coal production, electricity generation, jobs, or household savings increased. The package included a separate, limited two-year reprieve from stricter mercury and air-toxics requirements for certain coal-fired plants. A further executive order in February 2026 later directed officials to seek long-term power agreements with coal plants for some federal facilities.
What the April 2025 executive order directed
Executive Order 14261, titled “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241,” treated coal as a “mineral” under the earlier order’s framework. Its main effect was to set work for agencies to carry out; it did not itself open a mine, award a lease, or require a power plant to burn more coal.
Federal coal resources and leasing
The order directed the Interior, Agriculture, and Energy departments to identify coal resources and reserves on federal lands, assess obstacles to mining them, and propose ways to enable mining. It also asked the Energy Secretary to assess possible effects of those resources on electricity costs and grid reliability.
Interior and Agriculture were told to prioritize coal leasing and related activity on identified public lands, consistent with applicable law, and to expedite leasing where existing authority allowed. The order also directed Interior to publish a notice ending the remaining environmental-impact-statement process tied to former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell’s coal-leasing moratorium and to process lessees’ requests for royalty-rate reductions as quickly as law permits. These directions concern federal land policy; they do not establish that particular leases or royalty cuts were granted.
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Reviews of policies and potential uses
Agencies were directed to identify guidance, regulations, programs, and policies aimed at transitioning the country away from coal production or coal-fired power, then consider revising or rescinding identified actions where consistent with law. Agencies with financing authority were also told to review policies and barriers affecting coal projects, including international financing.
The order further called for promoting coal exports and coal technologies, reviewing whether steelmaking coal could qualify as a critical material, and assessing coal-fired infrastructure as a possible power source for artificial-intelligence and high-performance-computing data centers. These were assigned reviews and policy objectives, not findings that the reviews were complete or that any proposed project had been built.
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What was separate from the executive order
On April 8, 2025, Trump also issued a proclamation giving certain coal-fired plants two years of relief from the stricter Biden-era version of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. The White House said eligible plants could comply during that period with a less stringent version of the rule. This was a separate action from EO 14261, and it was not a blanket or permanent exemption for every coal plant.
What Interior and Energy announced afterward
Agency announcements described follow-up work, but an announced review or intended rulemaking is not the same as a completed change or a measured increase in output.
| Agency | Announced action | What the announcement does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Interior | Work to end the outstanding Jewell-moratorium review process; pursue land-use-plan changes in Montana and Wyoming; revise the Ten-Day Notice Rule through rulemaking; and speed reviews of federal coal lessees’ requests for lower royalties. | It does not show that every proposed process or change was completed, or quantify any resulting increase in coal production. |
| Energy (DOE) | Reinstate the National Coal Council; pursue coal-related financing under the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program; recommend assessing steelmaking coal as a critical material and mineral; and work on extracting minerals from coal ash. | DOE described $200 billion as available across eligible energy-infrastructure investment categories, including coal. That figure was not an award of $200 billion to coal projects. |
What the actions could mean for electricity bills and household finances
The administration presented energy security, jobs, affordability, and grid reliability as reasons for its coal policies. The directives include a requested assessment of possible effects on electricity costs and reliability, but the reviewed government announcements do not report that the April 2025 actions lowered consumer bills or produced a quantified reliability benefit.
For households, the distinction is important: a policy that encourages leasing or reviews project financing does not translate automatically into lower utility rates. The available material does not establish a causal effect on consumer prices, employment, coal output, or emissions. Any claim that the orders saved households money—or raised their bills—would go beyond what these sources demonstrate.
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Why a lasting revival is not established
Coal’s role in U.S. electricity generation had already fallen sharply in the historical figures cited by the Associated Press: about 16% in 2023, compared with about 45% in 2010. Those are dated figures, not a statement of coal’s share in 2026. AP also reported expert assessments that lower-cost natural gas and durable renewable-energy markets make a lasting coal revival difficult; those assessments are analysis, not a guaranteed forecast.
That market context helps explain why changing federal policy is not the same as proving a durable industry turnaround. The reviewed sources describe directives, announced initiatives, and competing market pressures, but do not establish that the April 2025 actions caused a sustained increase in mining, generation, or jobs.
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What changed in February 2026
A separate executive order dated February 11, 2026 described coal as essential to national and economic security. It directed the Secretary of War, coordinating with Energy, to seek long-term power-purchase agreements or similar agreements with coal-fired facilities for Defense Department installations or other mission-critical facilities.
This was a later development, not part of the April 2025 signing-day package. The order directs officials to seek agreements; it is not evidence that any contract was executed.
How state officials responded
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, co-chairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance, argued that the related federal action targeting state energy policies could not strip states of their independent constitutional authority and said they would continue their climate policies. That statement records their position; it does not resolve the legal dispute.
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