On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed the "Unleashing American Energy" executive order, putting the full power of his administration behind making America energy dominant once again. We’ve been following this directive ever since. To lead this charge, the president established the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC), which brings together top officials from across the government to cut red tape and boost American energy production. As members of the NEDC, we are working around the clock to remove the roadblocks that have held back our energy workers and kept energy prices high for families, efforts we advanced further this week at the White House's Advancing America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Event.The Biden administration tried to pick winners and losers in our energy sector, subsidizing unreliable renewables instead of energy sources that actually boost our baseload power. This backwards strategy made it harder to produce reliable energy and threw taxpayer money at sources that can't keep the lights on when Americans need it most.TRUMP'S ENERGY PRICE PROMISE IS COMING DUE. HE HAS THE POWER TO SOLVE THE CRISISThe result was higher energy bills for families, a less reliable power grid and dangerous dependence on countries like China for critical materials and equipment or adversaries for fossil fuels.President Trump is changing all of that. We're bringing back beautiful, clean coal because it works. Coal provides the steady, reliable power that keeps our factories running, our homes warm, and our economy strong. Unlike wind and solar, coal plants can run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, regardless of the weather. Coal also means good-paying jobs for American workers in the communities that brought about the industrial revolution.At the Trump EPA, we are proving we can protect our environment while also growing our economy and creating jobs. It is not a binary choice. Today, we continue building on these efforts with two major regulatory reforms to unleash American energy dominance through beautiful, clean coal.First, the EPA is proposing revisions to regulations on Steam Electric Power Generation that provide certainty coal plants desperately need. We're giving them more time to comply while keeping your lights on by extending seven major deadlines and eliminating the pressure to prematurely close reliable, affordable baseload power generation.We're also announcing new approaches to streamline Regional Haze implementation. Current program implementation has imposed substantial costs on power plants, threatening affordable energy access for American families. We're seeking stakeholder input on meaningful revisions that will incorporate the latest science and recognize the strides we’ve made in improving air quality while ensuring clean air for every American.In March, we announced 31 historic deregulatory actions on the greatest single day of deregulation in U.S. history. We're doing more deregulation in one year than entire federal agencies have done across entire presidencies.EPA is also fixing the broken permitting process by making clear that companies only need air permits when they actually break ground, not years before. This removes years of delays for new energy projects. We ended the old Reactivation Policy that served as a roadblock to bringing reliable power plants back online. These common-sense reforms are helping energy companies invest in America again, creating jobs in communities that need them most.At the Department of the Interior, the Trump administration is restoring American energy and mineral dominance by unlocking our vast coal reserves and cutting red tape that has held back production for years. We’re proving that we can power our economy, protect our resources and strengthen national security, all at the same time.First, we’re making 13.1 million acres of federal land available for coal leasing, the largest expansion in decades. These lands were previously locked away by bureaucratic overreach. Now, they’re being returned to the American people to fuel jobs, growth and energy independence.We’ve also cut the federal coal royalty rate from 12.5 percent to a ceiling of 7 percent, giving producers the certainty they need to invest and expand. This reform alone is helping keep coal competitive in the global market while lowering energy costs and restoring reliability for American families.At the same time, we’re leading a critical minerals recovery initiative to extract rare earth elements and strategic materials like zinc, germanium, and tellurium from mine waste and abandoned sites. These minerals are essential for national security and we’re making sure they’re sourced from here at home, not in China.Under Secretary Doug Burgum’s leadership, the Department is moving fast, cutting red tape, reducing project approval times from years to just 28 days and putting American energy workers back in the driver’s seat. We’re not just talking about energy dominance, we’re delivering it.At the Department of Energy, we are reversing the previous administration's restrictive energy policies and doing everything we can to ensure Americans’ access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy. Coal is central to those efforts. At President Trump’s direction, the Department of Energy released a grid reliability report earlier this year that found that planned retirements of coal and natural gas plants, combined with rising electricity demand, would leave the United States’ electric grid dangerously vulnerable and 100 times more prone to blackouts by 2030. To meet growing demand from domestic manufacturing and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers, America’s coal-powered powerplants must remain in operation. That is why, on September 29, the Department of Energy announced a 625 million dollar investment to revitalize our nation’s beautiful, clean coal industry. A majority of those funds will go towards ensuring coal plants operating today continue to stay open for decades to come and with the highest environmental standards.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONThe Department of Energy has also issued emergency orders to secure the U.S. power grid and prevent unnecessary power outages, including by halting premature plant closures. In May 2025, for example, the Department of Energy directed the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) to keep a 1,560 megawatt coal plant operating. The plant played a critical role in keeping the lights on throughout the summer.The future for coal is long and bright. Coal built the greatest industrial engine the world has ever known, and under this Administration, it will help do so again. President Trump's "Working Families Tax Cut" is supercharging everything the NEDC is doing, giving us even more tools to cut regulations and unleash American energy production.The work we are doing will rebuild America's energy infrastructure faster than ever before and level the playing field for baseload power sources as opposed to propping up intermittent energy forms like wind and solar with taxpayer subsidies.Under the Trump administration, America is back, our energy sector is booming and we're never returning to the failed policies of the past. The era of American energy dominance is here, and coal will play a critical role in securing America’s position as the energy superpower of the world. The future belongs to countries that can power themselves, and thanks to President Trump's leadership, that country is the United States of America.Douglas Burgum is the 55th United States secretary of the interior and former governor of North Dakota.Christopher Wright is the 17th United States secretary of energy.