By Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Trump administration leaders used sanitizing language to describe coal in statements hailing their rollout of environmental protection rollbacks and taxpayer subsidies both intended to prop up the U.S. coal industry Monday.
“Beautiful clean coal has been a reliable energy source supporting American communities and economic growth for generations,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.
“Beautiful, clean coal will be essential to powering America’s reindustrialization and winning the AI race,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said.
“Beautiful” and “clean” were not adjectives community and environmental advocates used to describe coal during a West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection conference on a permit renewal application from a coal company with over $3 million in delinquent DEP penalties Tuesday.
