President Donald Trump is using wartime presidential authority to hand $700 million to coal-fired power plants in the U.S., the latest move by the president to bolster what he called “clean, beautiful coal,” despite it being the dirtiest of fossil fuels.
“Today, we’re taking historic action to bring down the price of energy and the cost of living for all Americans with the power of clean, beautiful coal,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.
Trump is using the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era statute used to accelerate American industrial output in times of national need, to provide grants to more than a dozen existing coal plants across the U.S., including facilities capable of exporting coal.
“As a result of the $700 million investment that I’m announcing today, we will protect 14 coal plants and 42 coalmines, a tremendous number, and build two new coal plants and one massive new export terminal,” Trump said.