Trump’s order is the most recent transfer by US administration to spice up fossil gas trade regardless of local weather change considerations.
Revealed On 12 Feb 2026
United States President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to purchase electrical energy generated by coal, his newest effort to boost demand for the fossil fuel amid its declining price competitiveness and local weather change considerations.
In an government order signed on Wednesday, Trump directed the US Division of Defence to enter into long-term buy agreements with coal-fired vegetation and prioritise the “preservation and strategic utilisation” of “coal-based power property”.
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Trump’s order didn’t specify how a lot power the Pentagon would buy or below what monetary phrases.
“You accomplish that a lot,” Trump stated at a White Home occasion attended by coal trade executives and miners.
“You warmth our houses, gas our factories, and switch pure sources into American riches and desires,” he stated.
Trump additionally introduced that the US Division of Vitality would make investments $175m to improve six coal vegetation in North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.
“An important individuals right here right this moment are those that get their arms somewhat bit soiled to maintain America operating at full velocity – our entrance line coal staff,” Trump stated.
Coal manufacturing within the US has been in decline for many years amid rising competitors from pure gasoline and renewables, together with wind, hydropower and photo voltaic.
Manufacturing fell by greater than half between 2008 and 2023, when output hit 578 million tonnes, in response to the US Vitality Info Administration.
The fossil gas accounted for about 16 p.c of US power manufacturing in 2023, behind pure gasoline and renewables at 43 p.c and 21 p.c, respectively.
Trump: ‘Stunning, clear coal’
A 2023 evaluation by Vitality Innovation, a California-based nonprofit, discovered that 99 p.c of coal-powered amenities within the US have been dearer to run than the price of their alternative with renewable alternate options.
Trump has championed the revival of “lovely, clear coal” as essential to boosting home manufacturing and attaining US dominance in synthetic intelligence, regardless of the fossil gas’s flagging competitiveness and contribution to greenhouse gases that drive local weather change.
Trump, who initiated Washington’s exit from the Paris local weather accord and has described the scientific consensus on warming temperatures as a “con job”, declared an “power emergency” on his first day in workplace to stop the closure of ageing coal vegetation.
The US Vitality Division has compelled a minimum of 5 vegetation to increase their operations past their scheduled retirement date since Trump’s order.
Additionally on Wednesday, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the biggest public utility supplier within the US, voted to increase the lifespan of two coal vegetation that had been scheduled for closure by 2035.
The TVA vote got here after the utility added 4 Trump appointees to its board of administrators final month, after the US president had earlier fired three board members chosen by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
