Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 30, 2025 |
Photo – Old Coal Mining Equipment – Courtesy Hanna Basin Museum
The war on coal was waged by the Barak Obama Administration. Aggressive regulations brought by the Environmental Protection Agency led to the retirement of nearly 33 gigawatts of coal capacity during Obama’s second term. Before he left office, 83,000 coal jobs had been lost and more than 400 mines closed.
At the same time, wind turbines started popping up across Wyoming to deliver energy to the Pacific Northwest.
The winds are blowing differently now.
Surrounded by coal miners young and old from the Powder River Basin, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon and Wyoming Senate President Bo Biteman, were joined by Trump Administration officials in launching policies to unshackle America’s energy industry from the anti-coal production regulations of Beltway Democrats.
Also attending the ceremony were Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Under Secretary of Energy Preston Griffin III.
U.S. Senator John Barrasso also attended the meeting.
Governor Gordon said, “Implementing key sections of the Big Beautiful Bill underscores the Trump administration’s drive to unleash American energy. Putting these policies into play grants balanced federal land management and multi-use access, along with greater local decision making. The President continues to take bold actions to reaffirm the reliability and affordability of clean coal for American energy security.”
At Monday’s event, Secretary of the Interior Burgum announced the opening of 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal leasing. This triples the benchmarks set by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
EPA Administrator Zeldin announced that the EPA will rework the Biden-era regional haze rules that threatened to force coal plants to close across the country.
In all, the Trump administration plans a $625 million investment to make it easier to mine.
The governor will hold a news conference this morning on the topic.
