United States President Donald Trump signed executive orders on Tuesday aimed at boosting the US coal industry. The orders aim to strengthen the country's electric grid and "ensure coal power plants are used for electricity."
"This is a very important day for me because we're bringing back an industry that was abandoned … I call it beautiful clean coal. I tell my people never use the word 'coal' without 'beautiful clean' before it," Trump said. "We need more than double the energy, and electricity we currently have to work on AI," he added while announcing he would unlock the defense production act to boost coal mining.
The move will direct the Interior and Energy Departments to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining, prevent retirements of existing plants and prioritize coal leasing on US lands.
