Donald Trump stood at the White House podium on Thursday and declared he was taking “historic action” to bring down the price of energy for Americans – by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into what he called “clean, beautiful coal”. The president invoked the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law that grants broad authority to prop up industries deemed vital to national security, to finance a $700m (£372m) package aimed at reviving the US coal industry.
The investment comes as the war with Iran pushes energy costs ever higher. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route carrying about a fifth of global oil and gas supplies, has sent prices soaring. A gallon of petrol in the US now costs $4.24, according to the AAA motoring group – up from $2.98 on the day the US and Israel began striking Iran. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that overall energy prices for consumers rose 17.9% in the year to April.
“Trump invokes Defense Production Act to fund $700m coal revival amid Iran war energy price surge.”
“As a result of the $700m investment that I’m announcing today, we will protect 14 coal plants and 42 coalmines, a tremendous number, and build two new coal plants and one massive new export terminal,” Trump said. Of that total, $500m of federal funds will go towards saving 14 existing coal plants and opening a new export terminal in Oakland, California. The Department of Energy will grant a further $200m to build new coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia – the first new coal plants in the US since 2013.
The president argued that “successful countries” rely on coal, then lashed out at what he called “failure countries” for investing in renewable energy sources such as wind power. Trump said his coal investment plans would save American consumers $50bn in new energy generation costs that would otherwise have been passed on in higher bills.
The coal plants receiving the president’s investment are in Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Trump claimed that construction of the Oakland export terminal alone will create more than 1,400 jobs, with the total package supporting around 14,000.
But as the president hailed the revival of coal, separate polling from the Financial Times suggests voters are growing sour over his handling of inflation and grocery prices, with the Iran war deepening discontent. The FT poll, which was conducted before Trump’s announcement, found that Americans blame the president for the rising cost of living – a problem the coal investment is meant to address.