1 week Ago By France 24
US President Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday to boost coal mining and double electricity production to meet demands from artificial intelligence technologies. Surrounded by miners, Trump's orders remove coal extraction barriers and halt the shutdown of numerous coal-fired plants. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed executive orders to "turbocharge coal mining" in the country, seeking to "more than double" electricity production to keep up with power-hungry artificial intelligence technology.
The executive orders, which Trump signed surrounded by miners in hard hats, will lift regulatory barriers to coal extraction and suspend the planned closures of numerous coal-fired power plants across the country. "We will end the government bias against coal," said the Republican, who instructed the Department of Justice to identify and fight any state or local regulations that were "putting our coal miners out of business." Trump also said that it would be "possible to extract enormous amounts of critical minerals and rare earths, which, you know, we need for technology and high technology in the process of coal mining .
" Lena Moffitt, director of the climate NGO Evergreen, criticised the president in a statement for using artificial intelligence as "a cover to bail out his fossil fuel donors with the dirtiest, most expensive power source on the grid." Production of coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, has fallen sharply in the United States over the last fifteen years. (FRANCE 24 with AFP) Read more on FRANCE 24 English Read also: A ‘50-50’ minerals deal with US suits Ukrainians in a graphite mining village Struggling US coal industry sees Trump as saviour.
