Trump admin relaunches key council after Biden admin shuttered it: 'Ignorance and arrogance'

By Fox News · Fox News

Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reinstated the National Coal Council, comprised of dozens of stakeholders from energy firms, utilities, governmental and tribal interests, saying that no industry affects Americans’ lives more. The council, which will be chaired by Peabody Energy CEO Jim Grech and Core Natural Resources chairman Jimmy Brock, cut its proverbial ribbon at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus four years after then-President Biden dissolved the decades-old consortium. "It's crazy that this Coal Council was disabled," Wright said, calling it a "combination of ignorance and arrogance." IN 2026, ENERGY WAR’S NEW FRONT IS AI, AND US MUST WIN THAT BATTLE, API CHIEF SAYS Burgum spoke to the importance of the coal industry to not just the local economies – like those in his own state of North Dakota – where the mineral is extracted, but across national security, economic and commercial fields. "No industry that does so much and means so much to every American," he said. "But the regulatory red tape onslaught going into this industry was like no other. And so if you're standing here today and your company is providing reliable, affordable, American, secure-base-load-dispatch of power, you’re a hero to me," Burgum said. Wright added that people must only look at history to see what happens to societies that squander their coal reserves if they have them. He said that while much of the world was still relying on woodburning for energy, England had such a booming industry during the Glorious Revolution of 1707 that it comprised 50% of its energy industry. The rest of the world did not hit 50% coal power until 1900, when it finally surpassed wood, Wright continued. BURGUM CALLS CALIFORNIA A ‘NATIONAL SECURITY RISK’ AS ENERGY CHIEF WARNS BLUE STATES ARE SKEWING COST AVERAGES With the "barbarians at the wall," the little island country held its own thanks in part to its coal industry, he said of England an…