Trump declares 'end of war' on coal, announces new deregulations
US President Donald Trump signed a decree on Tuesday recognizing coal as a critical mineral and announced a series of other measures aimed at easing environmental regulations, boosting coal production, and preventing the closure of mines.
"Today, we're taking historic action to help American workers, miners, families and consumers. We're ending Joe Biden's war on beautiful, clean coal once and for all... we're going to put the miners back to work," Trump announced during the signing ceremony of new decrees supporting the coal industry.
In a speech delivered with miners in work clothes standing behind him at the White House, Trump claimed that the value of untapped coal in the USA is 100 times greater than the value of all the gold in Fort Knox.
He announced the rollback of environmental regulations that limit coal mining, with the aim of preventing the closure of 66 mines. He also argued that mining has been previously discriminated against, even though miners love their work and would not give it up, even if they had the chance to live in a New York apartment and take a different job.
Trump also signed an order instructing the energy secretary to potentially classify coal as a critical mineral. This would allow for increased extraction of the resource by using provisions of the Defense Production Act, which was created to increase the production of materials and goods necessary for national defence.
Trump wants to open new mines
Another decree addresses the end of discriminatory policies by government agencies against coal mining, making it possible to open new mines on federal lands. Trump also directed the Department of Justice to combat illegal state-level regulations against fossil fuels.
Trump's decrees are part of a broader initiative to deregulate the energy sector, aimed at increasing electricity production to meet the massive demand for power, including that necessary for the development of artificial intelligence.
