U.S. Energy and Coal Policy

Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have reinstated the National Coal Council, a long‑standing federal advisory body that the Biden administration dissolved about four years ago, and installed Peabody Energy CEO Jim Grech and Core Natural Resources chairman Jimmy Brock as co‑chairs at a launch event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Wright blasted the earlier shutdown as a mix of 'ignorance and arrogance' and argued that, with the rise of AI and data‑center demand, the U.S. needs 50–100 gigawatts of additional coal generation to stay ahead of China, which he said has recently opened 93 GW of new coal plants. Burgum framed coal as critical 'secure base‑load dispatch' power and complained of a prior 'regulatory red tape onslaught,' signaling a policy agenda to preserve and expand coal’s role despite climate concerns. The article notes Wright’s office has already earmarked $625 million to 'reinvigorate' the coal sector under a Trump executive order and claims to have saved more than 15 GW of existing coal capacity, citing a DOE analysis warning that large coal‑plant retirements would leave grid reliability 'unsustainable' and that the U.S. needs 100 GW more peak‑hour supply by 2030. The move positions coal not just as an economic lifeline for mining states but as a national‑security tool in the administration’s AI and China strategy, even as critics and grid experts outside this piece question whether doubling down on coal is compatible with emissions targets and the actual economics of new generation.