The Trump administration has directly spent $2.7bn of taxpayer money on its crusade against wind power while pouring $1.125bn into boosting coal, which critics say is pushing up Americans' bills. They argue the moves serve fossil-fuel companies that donated record sums to his campaign, rather than working-class Americans promised lower energy costs.
Details of the Spending
Since March, the Department of the Interior has struck four deals with energy companies, paying them to cancel eight offshore wind projects and pledge to invest in fossil-fuel power. The first agreement, announced in March with French company TotalEnergies, sparked a lawsuit from seven Democratic-controlled states alleging illegal use of taxpayer money. The latest deal with Duke Energy was announced late last month.
In September, the Department of Energy announced $625m to expand and extend the life of coal-fired power plants: $350m to modernize coal plants, $175m for coal projects powering rural communities, and $50m for wastewater management. Last month, the agency set aside up to $500m from the Defense Production Act to expand 13 coal plants and help build a coal export terminal in Oakland, California. A week later, it announced $3.6m to refurbish nine existing coal plants.
Criticism and Defense
Jay Inslee, former governor of Washington state, said: “Trump is getting Americans coming and going. He’s forcing higher power bills on them by blocking clean energy, then he’s fattening the wallets of his cronies – all with billions of our tax dollars.”
Jenny Rowland-Shea of the Center for American Progress said there is no precedent for the federal government directly paying developers to relinquish legally acquired offshore wind leases. “They are trying to snuff out an entire form of energy,” she said, noting the US needs more energy as datacenters consume more power.
A White House spokesperson, Taylor Rogers, said officials are “not spending taxpayer dollars on these deals” but returning money companies bid on offshore wind projects that cannot be built due to national security concerns. An energy department spokesperson, Ben Dietderich, said the administration is “proud” of boosting coal, claiming the Green New Scam resulted in premature shutdown of fossil fuel plants, higher energy costs, and increased blackout risk.
Impact on Costs and Health
Coal is the most carbon-dense fossil fuel and a major contributor to the climate crisis. A 2023 study estimated 460,000 US deaths from 1999 to 2020 were attributable to coal plant air pollution. Coal plants are also more expensive than renewables; a 2023 report from Energy Innovation found 99% of domestic coal-fired power plants cost more to run than replacing them with renewable power. Generating power with coal in 2024 cost 28% more than in 2021.
Critics say taxpayers pay twice: through direct public spending and higher electricity bills. A 2025 analysis from Grid Strategies suggests keeping 35,000 megawatts of fossil plants running would cost ratepayers at least $3.12bn by end of 2028.
Gabrielle Levy of Climate Action Campaign said: “These coal plants that are being supported by the government were going to close down because they couldn’t keep themselves open on their own. So we’re paying as taxpayers to keep economically unviable plants open, while those are doing immeasurable harm to the local environment, to people’s health, and to the climate.”
Broader Energy Policy Shift
In October, the energy department allocated $1.5bn to restart a coal gasification plant. In February, Trump signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to purchase electricity from coal plants. Officials have curtailed clean-energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act, frozen permitting for new wind projects, and streamlined fossil-fuel permitting. Through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, royalty rates on federal coal were lowered from 12.5% to 7%, costing Wyoming alone an estimated $50m per year. In October, the largest US coal leasing sale in over a decade saw a bid of one-tenth of a penny per ton, which was rejected.
Rowland-Shea said: “Even though the bid was ultimately rejected, the failure of this coal sale demonstrates the Trump administration’s willingness to use significant resources to subsidize a dying industry.” Inslee called the actions a “mugging,” adding: “We pay more, Republicans rubber-stamp it, and Trump’s donors walk off with the bag.”
