The Trump administration has announced a significant expansion of coal leasing, opening 13.1 million acres of federal land.
The policy comes with complementary plans by the country's Environmental Protection Agency and energy department.
This move, part of the 'Beautiful Clean Coal' initiative, aims to boost domestic fossil fuel production and enhance American energy dominance.
Environmentalists have decried the decision, warning of potential environmental harm and increased electricity costs.
The United States Department of the Interior announced September 29, 2025 it is opening 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal leasing. This is triple the area envisioned in the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, marks one of the largest coal development initiatives in recent history and is a dramatic reveral of previous reductions in federal coal leasing.
The policy was signed during a department event focused on advancing what the administration is calling "Beautiful Clean Coal", fulfilling US President Donald Trump's directive to restore American energy dominance through increased domestic fossil fuel production.
The announcement came on the heels of the Trump administration's directive to stop major offshore wind projects and terminate several other renewable energy programmes, and a week after the US President called climate change a 'con job' at the United Nations General Assembly.
The department has also reduced coal royalty rates to 7 per cent to enhance the competitiveness of US coal producers in global markets. Additionally, it’ll accelerate efforts to recover valuable minerals from mine waste and abandoned sites and streamline approvals for projects “in Montana, Wyoming, Tennessee and beyond”.
The department also plans to fast-track projects that can recover strategic resources like uranium, zinc, germanium, tellurium and rare earth elements — materials vital for defense technologies, energy production and advanced manufacturing.
"President Trump promised to put American energy workers first, and today we're delivering," said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum at the signing ceremony, adding that these measures will boost the country’s economy, enhance national security and ensure employment for local communities. The department noted that the decision is part of the Trump administration’s "all-of-the-above energy strategy".
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy also unveiled complementary plans, in alignment with Trump's executive orders titled "Reinvigorating America's Beautiful Clean Coal Industry" and “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production”.
The Department of Energy revealed plans to allocate $625 million for the recommissioning or modernisation of coal plants and to support new coal initiatives, the business news publication Bloomberg reported.
EPA has a proposal that'll give coal-fired plants more time to meet existing compliant deadlines on wastewater regulation that was introduced by the Joe Biden administration, according to Bloomberg. It added, "EPA also announced it was taking initial steps to make changes to the Clean Air Act rules requiring reductions in pollutants that cause haze, such as sulfur dioxide."
Under the policy, land is already being auctioned for coal projects Freedom Mine and Falkirk Mine in North Dakota. Major expansions are planned at Warrior Met, Skyline, Spring Creek, and West Antelope III mines. According to the department, these sales represent hundreds of millions of tonnes of coal reserves and could sustain production for decades.
The decision has been opposed by environmentalists and climate experts, who’ve said it'll will not only hurt the environment but will also increase electricity bills of citizens.