April 17, 2025 - State and federal leaders are accelerating plans to continue relying on fossil fuels with a series of laws and executive orders that environmental advocates say will hurt the environment and health of Hoosiers.

In efforts to revive the U.S. coal industry, President Donald Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed executive orders last week to ease regulations. Braun also signed a bill this week defining methane and propane as clean energy to reap benefits typically reserved for wind and solar projects.

Advocates are concerned the new policy directions will exacerbate the negative effects of climate change and put Hoosier health at risk from excess air and water pollution.

Braun’s two executive orders direct state agencies to roll back climate change policies and consider extending the use of coal for power generation.

Trump's orders direct multiple federal departments, including the Environmental Protection Agency, to revise or rescind policies that sought to transition the U.S. away from coal production.

“We’ll streamline permitting, we will end government bias against coal and we’re going to unlock sweeping authorities of the Defense Production Act to turbocharge coal mining in America,” the president said at a signing ceremony.

One of Trump's orders also "will rapidly expedite leases for coal mining on federal lands,” he said.

Braun did not respond to IndyStar's request for comment, but in a post on social media platform X, he said his orders are meant "to secure Indiana’s energy future and support American energy dominance."

Extending the use of coal will "ensure Hoosiers’ baseload energy needs are met at a price they can afford, and rejecting the heavy handed, one-size-fits-all climate approach of the Biden administration," Braun wrote. 

In all, Trump signed three executive orders related to coal. One aims to deregulate the coal industry, another could force coal plants slated for closure to stay open, and the third will roll back some state oversight on energy resources.

Braun's order, relying on Trump's declaration of a national energy emergency in January, directs state utility regulators to evaluate all of Indiana's remaining coal-fired power plants and "consider extending the life of the plant."

Coal in Indiana

Indiana burned nearly 21 million tons of coal for energy in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, making it the third-largest user of coal for electricity behind Texas and Missouri.

Coal accounted for 27% of Indiana's energy output in 2022, according to the EIA, the second most used fuel source after gas. The state had 12 coal-fired plants operating in 2023, the most recent year EIA collected data.

Utilities in Indiana have been moving away from burning coal and transitioning to gas-fired plants. Duke Energy and AES Indiana have both filed resource plans outlining the switch to gas.

AES's current plans show the utility is changing Petersburg units from coal to gas-fired plants by 2026, and Duke is planning to transition the Gibson plant in southwest Indiana to gas by 2038. Other investor-owned utilities, such as NIPSCO and Indiana Michigan Power, have committed to transition away from coal by 2028. CenterPoint has committed to stop burning coal by 2027.

AES Indiana spokeswoman Mallory Duncan said the utility is reviewing Trump's executive orders.

Duke Energy spokesperson Angeline Protogere said the utility looks forward to working with federal and state leaders.

"Our focus remains on meeting the needs of our customers and communities by delivering on our commitment of generating safe, reliable and affordable energy," Protogere wrote in an email.

President Trump's executive orders on coal

The new federal policies are part of an effort to meet growing electricity demands driven by the growth of artificial intelligence data centers and increases in manufacturing, according to one of the president's orders.

Trump said these executive orders will unlock billions of dollars in federal funding to invest the next generation of coal technology.

“Which is an amazing technology in terms of getting the full potential of coal and also doing it in a very clean, environmental way,” Trump said. 

Indiana has four coal mines currently operating and they employ about 1,400 Hoosiers, according to a 2023 Indiana Department of Labor report. The mines generated about 3.6 million tons of coal.

Peabody Energy and Hallador Energy, through its subsidiary Sunrise Coal, run the largest coal mines in the state. Neither responded to requests for comment from IndyStar.

The president's order also asks agencies to locate coal on federal lands and enable mining that coal with public or private groups.

While the order promotes coal as a clean source of energy, Gabe Filippelli, professor of Earth sciences at Indiana University, said coal is anything but clean.

Coal "emits, in a very rapid way, a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,” Filippelli said. “It’s quite a dirty fuel source.”

Burning coal also releases other kinds of gasses and heavy metals that are harmful to the environment, he said.

While carbon dioxide is naturally found in the atmosphere, Filippelli said, burning coal adds significantly more and results in heat being trapped and radiating back down to the surface in a warming effect for the planet.

Braun keeps coal burning, rolls back climate policy

One of Braun's two executive orders requires the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and Indiana Office of Energy Development to reevaluate each coal-fired power plant in the state and consider extending their lives. The IURC was also directed to assess "overly aggressive regulation aimed at closing coal plants."

The push to extend the use of coal-fired power plants in Indiana is meant to ensure "reliable, affordable energy for all Hoosiers," the order says.

Kerwin Olson, with consumer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition, said he is disappointed Braun signed the order.

"This reads to me to be nothing more that trying to save the dying coal industry," Olson said. "That’s bad news, not only for the climate, but also for the environment and public health in Indiana as well as consumers."

Braun’s order on climate change policy forbids state agencies from using the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions in any regulations or rulemaking. Social costs are a monetary measure of agricultural productivity, human health, property damages from flooding and changes in energy system costs, according to the U.S. EPA.

“The State of Indiana and stakeholders have identified numerous ways in which one-size-fits-all federal climate policies result in worse economic and environmental health outcomes for Hoosiers,” the order says.

Braun’s order also requires state agencies to get explicit approval from the Indiana General Assembly and the governor before developing or issuing plans, regulations or fees for greenhouse gasses.

The order tells state agencies to pursue ways to “eliminate or reduce harmful federal climate policies” and consider “rescinding climate action plans under federal programs.”

Order to strengthen the electric grid

Energy demand is surging due to the increasing use of artificial intelligence, and one of Trump’s orders tries to address this need with “a reliable supply of energy from all available electric generation sources.”

Ben Inskeep, with Citizens Action Coalition, said this order is particularly concerning because it seems to set up the Department of Energy to order coal plants to stay open.

The order could direct the department to evaluate different regional girds, like the Midcontinent Independent System Operator that monitors electricity transmission in most of Indiana. The department might then determine the gird is short on power and order coal-burning plants to stay open longer, which Inskeep said is an extreme overreach of current federal law.

The law, section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, is meant to be used during emergencies when a sudden increase for electricity is needed.

“Trump is looking to expand that in a novel way to basically give it authority to keep Indiana coal plants open,” Inskeep said. ”It’s a very old law and it’s being twisted to apply to circumstances never envisioned and it’s completely outside what is legally allowed.”