Trump-Vance spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to prop up dying coal industry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2026

CONTACT
Dan Radmacher, Media Specialist, (276) 289-1018, dan@appvoices.org 

At an Oval Office event Thursday, President Trump announced that $700 million in taxpayer money would be spent on keeping existing coal plants running, re-opening a closed coal plant in Maryland, building two new coal plants in West Virginia and Alaska, and constructing a coal export terminal in California. The event featured West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey. Morrisey did not mention a $250 million appropriations request by West Virginia’s representatives to address the drinking water crisis in the state’s coalfield communities that wasn’t included in the latest House funding bill. A smaller request offered as an amendment by Rep. Riley Moore was rejected by the House Appropriations Committee.

Statement by Director of Government Affairs and Strategy Chelsea Barnes:
“The Trump-Vance Administration is now pouring hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to prop up aging, expensive, and unreliable coal plants — and even building new coal plants despite cheaper, cleaner options. This will add to already skyrocketing electricity bills and add to pollution and public health problems caused by both the mining and burning of coal, at a time when West Virginians are being denied funding for access to basic necessities like clean water.”