As President Donald Trump announced moves to ease restrictions on the U.S. coal industry Tuesday, he extolled what he views as its values
FACT FOCUS: Trump misrepresents facts about coal as he signs executive orders to boost its useBy MELISSA GOLDIN and JENNIFER McDERMOTTAssociated PressThe Associated Press
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed four executive orders designed to boost the U.S. coal industry, outlining steps to protect coal-fired power plants and expedite leases for coal mining on U.S. land. But in touting the benefits of coal, he misrepresented several aspects of its safety and use.
Here’s a look at the facts.
CLAIM: “I call it beautiful, clean coal. I told my people, never use the word coal unless you put beautiful, clean before it.”
THE FACTS: The production of coal is cleaner now than it has been historically, but that doesn’t mean it’s clean.
Planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from the coal industry have decreased over the past 30 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Energy lobbyist Scott Segal said that “the relative statement that coal-fired electricity is cleaner than ever before is true, particularly when emissions are measured per unit of electricity produced.”
And yet, coal production worldwide still needs to be reduced sharply to address climate change, according to United Nations-backed research.
Along with carbon dioxide, burning coal emits sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that contribute to acid rain, smog and respiratory illnesses, according to the EIA.
Over the past 15 years, the U.S. has seen a major shift from coal to natural gas for electricity use, a key reason U.S. carbon emissions have declined over that period.
Coal once provided more than half of U.S. electricity production, but its share dropped to about 16% in 2023, down from about 45% as recently as 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of U.S. electricity, with the remainder from nuclear energy and renewables such as wind, solar and hydropower.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright acknowledged during his confirmation hearing in January that the burning of fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas — causes climate change. That’s because the combustion of fossil fuels is drastically increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, warming the planet.
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TRUMP: “It’s cheap, incredibly efficient, high density and it’s almost indestructible.”
THE FACTS: Coal is one of the most expensive sources of new power generation. New coal plants would produce electricity at nearly $90 per megawatt hour on average, though no one in the U.S. is currently building or planning to build a new coal plant, according to estimates from the EIA.
Standalone solar without battery storage is the cheapest source of new power generation at about $23 per megawatt hour on average for new projects connecting to the grid in 2028, the EIA estimates. That includes tax credits and other subsidies under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which help reduce the cost of renewable energy.
New natural gas plants are expected to produce electricity at nearly $43 per megawatt hour, according to the estimates.
A nonpartisan climate policy think tank, Energy Innovation, found that 99% of existing U.S. coal plants are more expensive to keep running than if they’re replaced with local solar, wind, and battery storage. Americans immediately begin saving money when coal plants retire and communities transition to clean energy, according to Energy Innovation’s 2023 report.
“Trump has promised to cut American energy bills in half – this is yet another way he’s forcing Americans to pay more,” Greg Alvarez, a spokesperson with Energy Innovations, wrote in an email Tuesday.
Coal plants operated at full power about 42.4% of the time in 2023, according to EIA’s most recent data. In comparison, nuclear and geothermal plants ranked highest, at about 93% and 69.4%, respectively.
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CLAIM: “The value of untapped coal in our country is 100 times greater than the value of all the gold at Fort Knox.”
THE FACTS: Although the U.S. does have an abundance of coal, its estimated value is not nearly as high as Trump claims.
There are currently about 147.3 million troy ounces of gold stored at Fort Knox with a book value of approximately $6.2 billion, according to the U.S. Treasury. Gold closed on the open market Tuesday, trading at $2,990.20 per troy ounce, making its market value much higher, at about $440.6 billion. A troy ounce, a weight measurement for precious metals, is approximately 31.1 grams.
There were about 469.1 billion short tons of coal in U.S. reserves as of Jan. 1, 2024, according to the EIA, though only about 53% of that was available for mining. EIA estimates its value at approximately $598.3 billion. That’s more than all of the gold at Fort Knox, but far short of 100 times that amount. A short ton, also known as a U.S. ton, is equivalent to 2,000 pounds.
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TRUMP: “They’re opening up coal, coal plants all over Germany.”
THE FACTS: That’s not accurate. According to Germany’s economy ministry, 18 coal-fired power plants were shut down in 2024. “No new coal-fired power plants will be built,” a spokesman for the ministry said Wednesday in response to a question about Trump’s claims. The spokesperson noted the country plans to phase out coal-fired power generation by 2038 at the latest.
Germany did bring some coal-fired plants back online in 2022 and 2023 to deal with natural gas shortages after Russia invaded Ukraine, but that was done as a short-term move.
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Associated Press climate, environment and energy writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
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