Trump’s Coal Executive Orders Would Raise Rates and Pollution

LITTLE ROCK, AR – On Tuesday Donald Trump signed executive orders aimed at boosting coal burning in the United States in part to support artificial intelligence data centers. Despite being surrounded by coal miners for the press conference, just days earlier Trump cut funding for coal miner protections and shuttered Mine Safety and Health Administration offices across the country.

Arkansas is making progress developing a clean energy economy, with Entergy planning for 800 MWs of affordable energy scheduled to come online by 2027 and nearly 2,000 clean energy jobs created statewide. The state’s five operating coal plants, however, produce energy that is extremely expensive – costs that are passed to the ratepayers – and result in harmful air and water pollution that is linked to respiratory illnesses, heart conditions, premature death, and neurological and developmental conditions in children and adults. In the last two decades, half a million Americans have died from coal pollution.

Nevertheless, Trump’s executive order seeks to resurrect outdated wartime provisions, claiming the Department of Energy can compel old power plants to temporarily remain operational even past their scheduled retirement dates. Trump attempted a similar strategy during his first administration, but nearly 100 coal plants retired or announced retirements during those four years.

Trying to extend the lifespan of coal-fired power plants that are already scheduled to retire will raise monthly energy bills for everyday Americans. On average, renewable energy costs 30 percent less than coal for the same energy output.

In response, Sierra Club’s Arkansas organizer Emory Hopkins, released the following statement: 

“The last things people in Arkansas need right now are higher bills, but that’s what they could get with this Trump declaration. Trump’s executive order ignores the energy choices Arkansas communities have already made and tries to force them into using dirty, expensive coal power just to pad the pockets of a small handful of coal CEOs. Arkansas is forced into paying more for coal while their air gets dirtier and communities get sicker. Renewable energy across the nation is affordable and clean, which is why communities and utilities have already made major progress in moving beyond coal. Trump wants to put a stop to all that just so his friends in the coal industry can profit without limits. Arkansas deserves affordable energy and healthy communities, not bailouts for coal CEOs.”