Trump Administration Slashes Accountability, Boosts Bailouts for Coal Industry

CAMBRIDGE (September 30, 2025)-The Trump administration announced a suite of policies yesterday set to pour money into aging coal-fired power plants, allow coal plants to bypass critical pollution protections, and subsidize coal mining on federal lands by sharply lowering royalty rates and weakening key accountability safeguards. These policies follow earlier efforts by the administration to prop up the coal sector, including by intervening to stop planned coal plant retirements, rolling back critical mercury, toxic and climate pollution standards and undermining worker protections.

Below is a statement by Julie McNamara, associate policy director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

"It's telling that the Trump administration's proposals for propping up the coal sector center around just one thing: bailing out the industry at the public's expense. These interventions are a staggeringly bad deal for the public. From slashing pollution protections, to subsidizing mounting industry costs, to undermining basic accountability for mining on public lands, the Trump administration is padding the pockets of coal barons and paying for it with the health and pocketbooks of people across this country.

"Meanwhile, the Trump administration is actively and aggressively sidelining renewable resources, the single best option this country has to rapidly, affordably and reliably scale up electricity production. Moreover, the Trump administration is making false promises and pushing dead-end policies all while slashing programs and incentives specifically designed to provide real solutions for coal workers and coal communities attempting to navigate the reality that coal is no longer an economically viable industry in the United States."