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Trump can clear the way for clean coal

June 11, 2026

Need to know

 

RealClear

Common Sense

TARGET TAKEN OFF COAL: President Donald Trump and his administration are receiving backup from a coalition of energy policy experts for their move to fully rescind an Obama-era regulation.
It is one that Rep. Harriet Hageman (R., Wyo.) previously told the Washington Reporter is “the head of the snake for all of the challenges that we’ve had for the last 20 years in terms of developing and producing domestically our own energy resources.”
Why it matters: The Obama and Biden administrations nearly crippled coal and other hydrocarbons in the name of green-at-any-cost schemes that propped up wind and solar across the nation. The supporters want the Trump administration to finish what it started, and finalize the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rescission of all greenhouse gas emissions standards for coal power plants.
“Although the current global energy crisis is likely to be transient, our domestic energy needs for data centers and re-industrialization are rapidly growing,” the signatories wrote to Trump and to others in his administration.
The letter also states, in part: “We have an estimated 249 billion tons of recoverable coal … worth $5-10 trillion at current market prices and could produce economic value from electricity generation worth $20-40 trillion. Coal burning in modern power plants is clean and safe.”
The Clean part is imperative, in our estimation, along with being Affordable and Reliable, per federal legislation proposed by Ohio Rep. Troy Balderson last October. Thanks to modern technology and innovation, coal can be just as clean as other sources.
Consider:
  • The EPA already proposed such a rescission in June 2025, but it has never been finalized.
  • Several prominent pro-American energy groups, including the American Energy Institute and Heartland Impact, have signed the letter urging the action.
  • President Trump began his second term in office by undoing the damage inflicted by leftwing climate litigation and green schemes — and unleashing American energy dominance.
He recently announced he’ll use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to direct roughly $700 million to the coal industry — including $425 million for 13 coal plants, $185 million to open plants in Alaska and West Virginia and restart one in Maryland, and $75 million for a new coal export terminal in California.
Bottom line: Clean coal, along with natural gas, oil and nuclear, is essential to meeting America’s long-term energy needs. Removing this barrier is long overdue.

Nonsense

HYPOCRITICAL POLICIES: Green hypocrisy is on full display in California’s solar desert, as this blog post outlines.
For years, the left has demanded strict environmental standards for American energy — shutting down pipelines, blocking drilling and punishing producers over even minor impacts. But when it comes to their preferred “green” projects, those same rules suddenly don’t apply.
Why it matters: Look no further than California’s Ivanpah Solar Power Plant as a perfect example.
Touted as a breakthrough in clean energy, Ivanpah has received $1.6 billion in taxpayer-backed support. Yet more than a decade later, it still relies on burning natural gas every single day just to start operations, which produces carbon emissions.
Consider:
  • If an oil or gas facility emitted that much, activists would demand it be shut down immediately. There’d be mass protests and impassioned speeches from activists like Greta Thunberg.
  • Instead, Ivanpah gets a pass.
  • The environmental damage is striking. The plant’s concentrated solar beams have been linked to killing thousands of birds annually.

Meanwhile, the surrounding desert habitat has been permanently altered, displacing wildlife and raising long-term ecological concerns.
Power The Future Founder Daniel Turner told Fox News: “If oil and gas spills a drop, literally a drop, the entire operation is shut down. And to an extent that’s a good thing…But you label something ‘green’ or ‘clean’ and all regulations are waived.”
Correctamundo, sir.
It’s just like Al Gore and other climate elitists lecturing working class Americans about their fuel consumption while flying on Learjets and living in mansions.
Bottom line: It’s all about the environment; until it isn’t.

A look ahead

FERC Open Meeting: On Thursday, June 18, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold an Open Meeting of the Commission.

Quote of the week

“We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to protect the American people from this unlawful regulation that would increase costs for families and businesses and ban an entire class of appliances. We will continue to work to ensure all Americans can make choices about the energy and appliances in their homes.”
PHOTO: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images