April 28, 2025 - President Donald Trump’s administration is making changes that could benefit the struggling U.S. coal industry.

Coal once provided more than half of U.S. electricity. But the industry has been in decline for decades.

In 2014, U.S. coal production was at one billion tons. By 2023, it had fallen to 578 million tons, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

President Trump issued executive orders this month. He allowed some coal-fired plants set for retirement to keep producing electricity. Those plants help meet rising demand for power. The President granted nearly 70 older coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals. He also allowed mining on federal land.

Today, about half of the nation’s 560 coal mines are in West Virginia and Kentucky. With just 15 mines, Wyoming produces the most coal. That’s due to automated equipment and more accessible coal.

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) enforces U.S. mine safety laws. MSHA officials must inspect each underground mine quarterly. They inspect each surface mine twice per year. The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has called for cuts to MSHA. As part of those cuts, some inspection offices are set to close.

According to DOGE’s website, shuttering those offices could save $18 million. It’s unclear whether jobs from those offices would move to other locations.

The Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center indicates that MSHA staff from those offices conducted nearly 17,000 health and safety inspections from the beginning of 2024 through February 2025. 

Jack Spadaro is a longtime mine safety investigator. He also worked for MSHA. Spadaro suggests that requiring inspectors to travel farther to jobsites could lead to less thorough inspections.

Some environmental activists say that coal is the world’s most polluting fossil fuel. They believe that gases from burning these fuels contribute to harmful warming of the Earth.

Coal industry advocates have long argued that there are uses for coal beyond burning. Pennsylvania-based Core Natural Resources is developing a method to produce a material used in lithium-ion batteries. That could reduce U.S. dependence on countries such as China.

Core also recently acquired a company that turns coal into carbon foam. The foam is used in nose cones and plane wings for the U.S. defense industry.

Matthew Mackowiak is Core’s director of government affairs. He says the future of coal power is “something else to talk about.” But he believes “at the very least, we need to be focused on maintaining our current coal fleet.”

How humans choose to use coal may be a matter for debate. But it’s worth noting that as a naturally occurring material, coal is a gift from a good Creator. (Colossians 1:16).