The Trump administration is exploring ways to financially support the construction of a California export terminal that could open the spigot for coal shipments out of the western United States, according to an official familiar with the agency’s plans and documents viewed by POLITICO’s E&E News.
The Energy Department is looking at the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to provide funding for the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, said the official, who was granted anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press.
DOE did not respond to requests for comment.
The export terminal, which is currently at the center of an ongoing legal battle, has been thrust into the spotlight as President Donald Trump pushes to revive the nation’s coal sector. Miners from Utah to the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana have long pined for more ports along the Pacific coast to ship their coal overseas.
