WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is again seeking to boost the struggling U.S. coal industry, announcing a plan Thursday to spend nearly $700 million to support coal-fired power plants and coal exports.Trump said the administration will use authority under a Cold War-era national defense law to support 13 coal plants across the country and help build coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia — the first new U.S. coal plants since 2013. The money will also help restart a shuttered coal-fired power plant in Maryland and support construction of a long-delayed coal export terminal in Oakland, California. Together, the announcements will support or create more than 14,000 jobs in coal, construction, rail and maritime industries, a White House official said. Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law that grants presidents broad authority over national security-related industries, and said his actions will allow coal plants to invest in upgrades that will extend their operational lives for decades.
The plan will “reinforce the reliability of our electric grid, which is really the biggest beneficiary,” Trump said at a White House event that also touched on renovations to the Reflecting Pool, the wars in Ukraine and Iran and a UFC cage being built at the White House.“Coal’s a great business,” Trump said. “In terms of power, there’s really nothing like it.”
