Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump held a very special event at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, heralding a special executive order aimed at unleashing the power of coal production and energy in the United States.
“This is a very important day because we’re bringing back an industry that was abandoned despite the fact that it was just about the best, certainly the best in terms of power, real power,” he said.
The president added, “I’m very honored to be doing this.”
He began by pointing out how China and Germany had begun building coal plants across their nations to keep up with the demands for domestic energy production, but the United States has lagged behind on that front.
“We’re going to put the miners back to work,” Trump said. “I said I was going to do this, and I’ve said it loud and clear, and it’s time to do it.”
Trump emphasized how important it was for the United States to focus on unleashing energy production in America to keep up with the insane amount of power that will be needed to keep up with the technological evolutions of artificial intelligence.
“We’re now way ahead of everybody in AI,” he said.
The president was joined by American coal miners in the White House, whom he praised as “just really deserving, great American patriots.” He also contrasted his administration’s energy-forward approach to Joe Biden’s term in office. “Joe Biden and congressional Democrats did everything they could to abolish the coal industry,” he pointed out.
Trump also highlighted his work to put energy at the forefront of his agenda so far during his second term, including terminating the Green New “Scam,” nixing the Paris Climate Accords, and declaring a National Energy Emergency.
“The value of untapped coal in our country is 100 times greater than the value of all the gold at Fort Knox, and we’re going to unleash it and make America rich and powerful again,” he said.
Trump also revealed that under this executive order, he will direct U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright to use “billions of dollars” in federal funds to invest in the “next generation of coal technology.”
The president said the United States has more coal available for mining than any other location on earth. He further explained that his EO would slash “unnecessary regulations” that target coal production, work to expedite leases for coal mining on federal property, streamline the permitting process, and “end the government bias against coal.”
Lastly, Trump said the executive action would “unlock the sweeping authorities of the Defense Production Act.”
The DPA of 1950 allows the president to exercise authority over the nation’s defense by ordering expedited domestic production processes on materials and services with the aim of strengthening defense capabilities.