President Trump signed several executive orders (EOs) on April 8, 2025, related to U.S. coal production. In a new insight, Director of Energy and Environmental Policy Shuting Pomerleau considers the likely impact of these orders.

Key points:

• The president’s EO’s are intended to significantly boost U.S. production of coal to align with the administration’s energy independence agenda.
• The EOs include numerous provisions to lift environmental regulations and provide targeted support for domestic coal production.
• The EOs are unlikely to reverse the declining trajectory of U.S. coal production due to the escalating mining costs, competition from other energy sources, and potentially substantial legal challenges to the administration’s attempt to repeal the regulations.

Read the analysis.