Trump’s Misleading Promotion of ‘Clean’ Coal

Este artículo estará disponible en español en El Tiempo Latino.

While presenting a series of executive orders conceived to summation energy procreation from coal, President Donald Trump misleadingly suggested that biology regulations were to blasted for the industry’s decline, wrongly said that ember plants are being opened “all implicit Germany,” and misleadingly, and repeatedly, referred to ember arsenic “clean.”

Experts hold the main culprit for the alteration successful coal-fired powerfulness successful caller decades was the surge of much cost-effective and cleaner kinds of energy, particularly earthy gas. In Germany, a fistful of aged plants were fired backmost up successful 2022, but were closed again successful 2024. Germany plans to extremity coal-fired powerfulness procreation by 2038. Also, ember combustion emits much c emissions than immoderate different fossil substance utilized to nutrient power, not to notation different pollutants.

“This is simply a precise important time to maine due to the fact that we’re bringing backmost an manufacture that was abandoned contempt the information that it was conscionable astir the champion — it is surely the champion successful presumption of power,” Trump, who promised and failed to revive the ember manufacture during his archetypal term, said on April 8, surrounded by ember miners. “Today we’re taking historical enactment to assistance American workers, miners, families and consumers — we’re ending Joe Biden’s warfare connected beautiful, cleanable ember erstwhile and for all.” 

Coal consumption and production in the U.S. person declined implicit the past 2 decades, according to the Energy Information Administration. Although ember fueled astir of the country’s powerfulness plants until a decennary ago, in 2023 lone 16% of the energy produced successful the U.S. was generated by coal-fired plants. The coal workforce went from astir 90,000 successful 2012 to astir 40,000 this year, according to information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trump’s new plan to boost the manufacture includes a bid of actions that, arsenic a Department of Interior press merchandise details, see reopening national lands successful Montana and Wyoming to ember leasing, removing “regulatory burdens” for mines, and lowering the magnitude ember producers wage the authorities for extracting ember connected national lands. The plan also grants coal powerfulness plants a two-year reprieve from regulations that bounds mercury and different toxic emissions. The medication said determination was a request for an summation successful energy generated by ember to fulfill a increasing request for energy for home manufacturing and artificial quality information processing centers.

During his speech, the president praised coal’s reliability and durability but besides called it “clean,” “cheap” and “incredibly efficient,” adding that radical person bemoaned and decimated the manufacture “for perfectly no reason.” He besides criticized “the greenish caller scam,” a operation helium utilized to notation to “restrictions” and clime alteration policies generally, and helium blamed erstwhile President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers for trying “to abolish the American ember industry” and “destroying” the lives, and jobs, of “thousands and thousands of ember miners.” 

(During Biden’s presidency, however, the fig of ember mining jobs increased slightly, by 3,400, to 41,300. In January, employment was 4,700 beneath the pre-pandemic level successful February 2020. Coal mining jobs decreased by 13,100 implicit the entirety of Trump’s archetypal term. Job losses were exacerbated by the pandemic, but adjacent anterior to the pandemic, determination was a nonaccomplishment of 5,000 ember mining jobs nether Trump.)  

“We volition extremity the authorities bias against ember and we’re going to unlock the sweeping authorities of … the Defense Production Act to turbocharge ember mining successful America,” helium said, referring to a instrumentality archetypal enacted successful 1950 during the Korean War to springiness the president wide authorization to “influence home manufacture successful the involvement of nationalist defense,” arsenic explained by the Library of Congress. 

But respective experts told america blaming biology regulations and claiming ember is cleaner, cheaper oregon much businesslike than its alternatives is misleading. 

“The ember industry’s diminution is owed archetypal and foremost to cheaper alternatives, namely earthy state but besides renewable energy,” Sanya Carley, module manager astatine the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, told america successful an email. “It is much economically businesslike and little c intensive to physique state units oregon renewable vigor specified arsenic upwind and star than it is to physique a ember plant.” 

Environmental Regulations Didn’t Kill Coal

Trump’s comments astir “bringing backmost an manufacture that was abandoned,” ending “government bias” and “slashing unnecessary regulations that targeted the beautiful, cleanable coal,” permission a misleading content astir wherefore ember accumulation has decreased.

Studies analyzing the factors that led to the diminution of the ember manufacture person concluded that though biology regulations person played a role, it hasn’t been a important one. 

As we reported successful 2017, aft Trump’s claims connected reviving ember then, a Columbia University’s Center connected Global Energy Policy study found the main culprit for the illness of the manufacture was cheaper earthy state accumulation driven by the shale revolution, followed by lower-than-expected request and the maturation successful renewable energy. 

Similarly, a 2017 argumentation brief by Charles D. Kolstad, an emeritus prof of economics astatine Stanford University, concluded that “environmental regulations did not termination coal”; advancement did. 

Kolstad explained that the main biology instrumentality affecting ember combustion is the Clean Air Act of 1970, signed by President Richard Nixon. Strong request and a deficiency of contention fueled a roar successful caller coal-fired plants successful the 1970s and 80s, contempt the regulations, which resulted successful an enlargement of ember production. Plants met the limits connected sulfur emissions by burning low-sulfur ember and then, aft a request of a 1977 Clean Air Act amendment, by adding devices, known arsenic scrubbers, that region sulfur from smokestacks.

But coal-fired plants built earlier 1970 were exempt from sulfur regulations, which, arsenic Kolstad explained, provided an inducement to support them operating for longer alternatively than discontinue them. The eventual status of these aged plants is what marked the diminution of ember successful energy procreation starting successful 2015, helium explained, not the further biology rules acceptable to bounds the contamination coming from them. 

At the aforesaid time, Kolstad explained, productivity successful the ember manufacture accrued owed to innovations, which led to a simplification successful the workforce. And the usage of hydraulic fracturing, oregon fracking, and the improvement of shale deposits led to a gyration successful the lipid and state manufacture that resulted successful a large driblet successful the terms of natural gas. 

Kolstad told america his investigation inactive stands today. 

“While ember mightiness beryllium beauteous to some, the main crushed accumulation is down is that request is down, mostly due to the fact that of inexpensive gas,” helium said successful an email. “Employment is down further due to the fact that of productivity gains (coal output per miner).”

Christine Shearer, task manager of the planetary ember works tracker astatine the nongovernmental enactment Global Energy Monitor, which compiles and analyzes vigor data, agreed. “[T]he main happening that killed ember successful the U.S. was gas,” she told america successful an email.

“Low earthy state prices, superior costs, and physique times of combined rhythm gas-fired powerfulness plants successful the 1990s led to a ample enlargement successful U.S. gas-fired capableness successful the opening of this century. As caller state plants were built, aging ember plants were unopen down,” she told us. Fracking further lowered the terms and accrued the usage of earthy state to nutrient electricity, she added. 

Shearer shared a report co-authored by Global Energy Monitor that shows much ember powerfulness capableness was retired nether Trump successful his archetypal word than nether Presidents Barack Obama oregon Biden. That’s “because ember plants closing has chiefly been a relation of economics, and it is hard to reverse,” she said. 

Globally, ember powerfulness plants successful the satellite person retired connected mean erstwhile they’re 37 years old, Shearer told us. Coal plants successful the U.S. are now, connected average, 43 years old, she added. 

“Not enforcing existing biology regulations and further delaying pending regulations connected c dioxide emissions,” she added, “might compression a fewer other years of beingness retired of these aged ember plants, but it won’t bring backmost a ember renaissance.”

Germany Is Not Going ‘Back to Coal’

In his remarks on April 8, Trump referred to 2 different countries’ usage of ember successful caller years. While helium correctly noted China’s continued reliance connected ember and its operation of caller plants, the president wrongly claimed that Germany is “back to coal” and that ember plants are being opened “all implicit Germany.”

Germany brought 4 antecedently closed ember plants backmost online successful 2022, apt owed to concerns astir vigor availability aft Russia’s penetration of Ukraine. Those plants were closed again successful 2024, and Germany has not opened a caller ember works since 2020, according to Global Energy Monitor. Germany is readying to extremity coal-fired powerfulness procreation successful the state by 2038 oregon earlier.

But astatine the opening of his remarks astatine the signing of his enforcement orders, Trump said, “Other countries went to beautiful, cleanable coal, and they’ve stayed determination for galore years similar China. China is opening 2 plants each week. Germany went green, precise green. They went truthful greenish they astir went retired of business. Germany was finished; they went to wind. The upwind wasn’t blowing excessively much, and they went to each sorts of different things.”

Trump continued: “You know, the greenish caller scam deed Germany excessively and conjecture what? Now they’re backmost to coal. They’re opening up ember plants each implicit Germany.”

It is existent that China began operation of 94.5 gigawatts of caller ember powerfulness projects and resumed 3.3 GW of suspended projects successful 2024, the highest level of operation successful that country in 10 years, according to a collaborative report issued successful February by the Centre for Research connected Energy and Clean Air and Global Energy Monitor. That’s apt not “two plants each week,” arsenic Trump said, since an mean ember works generates 1 GW but it takes a mates of years for a works to beryllium built and travel online in China, Shearer, of Global Energy Monitor, told america successful an email.

“Everybody other is moving distant from ember and China seems to beryllium stepping connected the gas,” Flora Champenois, an expert astatine Global Energy Monitor and 1 of the report’s co-authors, told NPR.

But Trump misrepresented Germany’s existent and aboriginal plans for the usage of coal.

Shearer explained that successful caller years the U.S. has been replacing aged ember plants with lower-cost earthy gas, arsenic good arsenic star and upwind power. Germany, however, did not person “a large enlargement successful state powerfulness similar the US, and connected apical of that Germany has been phasing retired its atomic power. So what has been replacing ember (and nuclear) successful Germany is star and upwind power.”

Germany did reopen 4 mothballed ember plants successful 2022 to run done 2023, “most apt to capable successful for precocious state prices pursuing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s penetration of Ukraine,” Shearer said. But those ember plants “were each retired successful 2024. The twelvemonth 2024 was really a grounds twelvemonth for ember powerfulness retirements successful Germany, totaling 6.7 GW – 2 GW supra U.S. retirements” nether Biden.

Asked astir Trump’s assertion that ember plants are opening passim Germany, Shearer said, “No, Germany has not opened a caller ember works since 2020.”

“Germany’s July 2020 Coal Power Exit Law established an extremity to coal-fired powerfulness procreation successful the state by 2038 astatine the latest, and perchance by 2035,” Shearer said. “A follow-up investigation expressed ambition to signifier retired ember ‘ideally’ by 2030.”

A spokesperson for the German system ministry, responding to Trump’s remarks, said, “No caller coal-fired powerfulness plants volition beryllium built” successful Germany, the Associated Press reported.

We reached retired to the White House for accusation to enactment Trump’s statements astir Germany’s ember plants, but we didn’t person a response.

‘Clean Coal’? Not Really 

On apical of incorrectly suggesting that biology regulations caused the downfall of the ember industry, Trump insisted connected calling ember “clean.”  

“I telephone it beautiful, cleanable coal,” helium said during his code connected April 8. “I archer my people, ne'er usage the connection ember unless you enactment ‘beautiful, clean’ earlier it.” 

But the world is that ember is not clean. As the Energy Information Administration explains, producing and utilizing ember has respective antagonistic effects connected people’s wellness and the environment. When ember is burned to nutrient electricity, it emits pollutants, including gases and particulates. Coal mining sometimes requires removing upland tops with explosives oregon altering valleys and waterways. Streams tin beryllium polluted by runoff from the mines.  

Coal combustion puts retired much c emissions than immoderate different fossil substance utilized to nutrient power, the Environmental Protection Agency explains. Although carbon dioxide is people contiguous successful the ambiance and is not straight harmful erstwhile breathed successful mean concentrations, CO2 is the main contributor to greenhouse state emissions, which trap vigor successful the ambiance and lend to clime change. In 2022, ember combustion accounted for 55% of c emissions from the electrical powerfulness sector, portion representing lone 20% of the energy generated successful the U.S. that year, according to the EPA. 

As the EIA explains, burning ember besides emits toxic pollutants linked to respiratory illnesses and lung disease, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate substance — criteria aerial pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act —  and different pollutants specified arsenic ember ash and mercury. 

“At the contiguous time, ember is not cleaner than its alternatives,” Joost de Gouw, a chemistry prof astatine the University of Colorado Boulder, told america successful an email, noting that astir coal-fired plants already usage systems to trim sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. “Compared with earthy state powerfulness plants that usage combined rhythm exertion (the manufacture standard), existent coal-fired powerfulness plants emit astir 10 times much nitrogen oxides and 100 times much sulfur dioxide per kWh of energy produced,” referring to kilowatt-hours.

A study published successful Science successful 2023 showed that vulnerability to the good particulate contamination from ember plants is associated with 2.1 times greater mortality hazard than vulnerability to specified contamination from different sources. Lucas Henneman, an adjunct prof of biology and infrastructure engineering astatine George Mason University and 1 of the authors of the study, told america that though determination are devices that tin region up to 99% of definite pollutants emitted during the combustion of coal, they don’t marque ember “clean.”

Scrubbers, or flue state desulfurization units, tin region astir 95% of sulfur dioxide emissions from a ember works earlier they’re released into the atmosphere. The installation of these devices, the closure of coal-fired plants and the diminution of the manufacture person resulted successful a important alteration of contamination from coal-fired plants, arsenic a separate study by Henneman and colleagues showed. 

But though these devices tin trim contamination from ember powerfulness plants “they bash not destruct them,” Henneman told us, adding that arsenic his 2nd survey showed, “most of the vulnerability to powerfulness works aerial contamination emissions aft 2015 was from powerfulness plants with scrubbers.” 

The discarded created from scrubbers, which needs to beryllium stored adjacent the powerfulness plants oregon placed successful landfills, tin besides origin a occupation erstwhile it spills and contaminates groundwater, helium said. The trains utilized to transport coal also pollute, helium added.

Trump said his medication volition beryllium “crushing Biden-era biology restrictions” that people mercury and different toxic emissions due to the fact that the regulations marque it “impossible to bash anything.” His plan includes a two-year hold (from July 2027 to July 2029) for ember plants to comply with a revision of the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards finalized last year. Trump said that the technologies needed to power emissions are “not commercially viable.” 

At the aforesaid time, the president said helium directed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to usage billions of national dollars “to put successful the adjacent procreation of ember exertion — which is an astonishing exertion successful presumption of getting the afloat imaginable of ember and besides doing it successful a precise cleanable biology way.”

We reached retired to the White House to inquire which exertion Trump was referring to. In response, a property serviceman from the Department of Energy directed america to an April 8 CNBC interview in which Wright mentioned scrubbers. 

“Scrubbers bash not bash thing astir c dioxide, truthful adjacent a ember works with a scrubber volition inactive lukewarm the planet,” Shearer, from Global Energy Monitor, told us.

Some c dioxide tin beryllium removed from ember powerfulness plants, but Shearer told america nary of the techniques utilized globally effect successful ember being cheaper oregon cleaner than earthy gas. 

“China present chiefly builds ultra-supercritical ember plants that it calls ‘high efficiency, debased emissions’ but astatine the extremity of the time they inactive emit much CO2 than a state plant,” she wrote. “Japan and South Korea person besides been pushing for ammonia co-firing astatine their ember plants, calling it ‘clean coal’, but again adjacent 50% co-firing ammonia astatine a ember works results successful higher CO2 emissions than a state plant, and it’s acold much expensive.”

As we‘ve written previously, it’s imaginable to seizure immoderate c emissions and either store it oregon usage it for different purpose. But experts told america that specified c seizure utilization and storage, oregon CCUS, technologies are precise expensive, energy-intensive and haven’t been utilized connected a ample scale.  

“Coal without CCUS is already not competitory economically, truthful adding CCUS makes nary consciousness economically,” Shearer added.

Despite his absorption connected the word “clean coal,” Trump besides indicated successful his remarks that clime alteration isn’t a problem.  

“You don’t person to interest astir the aerial is getting warmer. The water volition emergence one-quarter of an inch wrong the adjacent 500 to 600 years, giving you a small spot much waterfront property,” helium said, repeating erstwhile again his absurdly debased estimates of oversea level rise. As we’ve explained, the existent complaint of oversea level emergence is already a spot much than one-eighth of an inch each year.

---

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not judge advertising. We trust connected grants and idiosyncratic donations from radical similar you. Please see a donation. Credit paper donations whitethorn beryllium made through our “Donate” page. If you similar to springiness by check, nonstop to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, P.O. Box 58100, Philadelphia, PA 19102. 

The station Trump’s Misleading Promotion of ‘Clean’ Coal appeared archetypal connected FactCheck.org.