How Trump’s executive order on coal could impact energy use in the US

The desire of President Donald Trump to hold the resumption of coal production and use in the United States is far and unlikely, according to energy experts.

On Tuesday, Trump signed an enforcement order to expand the production and use of coal in the United States The action directs the internal department to facilitate coal lease for millions of acres of public land and instructs the energy department and other agencies to investigate whether coal can be used to supply electricity to artificial intelligence centers.

But the likelihood of the United States returning to heavy coal reading is incredible given the current energy infrastructure, emerging technologies and global trends, energy experts told ABC News.

In the US, coal is mainly used to generate electricity, according to US geological studies.

However, coal capacity has been declining in the US in recent decades, according to the Institute of Energy Economy and Financial Analysis. In 2011, coal was over 40% of total electricity production in the United States by 2016 that the percentage dropped to about 16%.

The main engine for the decline in the use of coal is economic competition with more expensive and cleaner fuels, such as natural gas and renewable energy sources, told the ABC News Ryna Cui, director of research at the Center for Global Resistance at the University of Merland.

“Coal power plants are no longer economically viable and these executive orders will do nothing to change the main basic market dynamics,” ABC News told.

Natural gases and renewable energy sources have become more cost-effective than coal, said Akshaya Ja, Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Heinz College at Carnegie Melon University.

The bigger part of the coal plants in the United States is at the end of their lives, so it has a little economic meaning to continue to rule them, Qui said. The construction of new coal facilities is high economic and financial risks and will have to work for many decades, “which the market is avoiding,” CUI said.

“The typical life of a coal power plant is about 40 to 60 years and there is little certainty about how long these executive orders will remain,” JHA told ABC News.

Trump’s executive order can slightly extend the life of existing coal plants – as well as increase production over the next few years – but it is unjust that new ones will be built, Carly said.

Missing new investments in coal -accumulated power plants in the United States, internal coal demand is likely to continue to diminish, given that many existing coal -operating power plants in the United States are aging and require significant investments to continue working, JHA said.

“Why would the US like to invest in a 19th century fuel source in the 21st century?” Qui said. “That doesn’t make good sense at so many levels.”

Coal is the most frozen source of fuel and is dangerous to mine – which makes it harmful to both human health and the environment, Qui said. The carbon footprint and the threat to human health are some of the reasons why it has fallen to the benefit of a worldwide power.

In 2024, the United Kingdom became the first major economy to eliminate coal energy when it closed its last coal plant.

“The Trump Administration cannot force utilities to buy frozen, more expensive fuels they don’t want,” Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist at Stanford University and chairman of Global Carbon Project, “ABC News told.

Trump’s executive order follows plans declared in March as deregulations of the Environmental Protection Agency policies, several of which aims to limit emissions and pollution related to the use of coal.

Trump’s position on energy may be the last hurray to strengthen the fossil fuel industry, experts said.

“The execution storm will not save the coal industry,” Jackson said.