U.S. Department of Energy
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Trump invokes Defense Production Act to direct ~$700M to the coal industry
On June 4, 2026, the Trump administration moved to direct roughly $700 million in federal support to the coal industry, invoking the Defense Production Act — a 1950 national-defense statute — to fund coal-fired power plants and export infrastructure. The package routes about $425 million in DPA funds to 13 existing plants across 10 states, roughly $185 million in Energy Department grants to build two new coal plants (Alaska and West Virginia) and restart a Maryland plant, and $75 million in DPA funds toward the West Gateway coal export terminal in Oakland, California. It builds on an April 20, 2026 Presidential Determination declaring coal supply chains and baseload power "essential to national defense," with the stated rationale being rising electricity demand from AI and data centers rather than a defense emergency.
Wright invokes Defense Production Act to override California, restart Sable oil pipelines
On March 13, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order delegating his Defense Production Act authority to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who that same day ordered Sable Offshore Corp. to restart the Santa Ynez Unit and its offshore pipeline system along the California coast. The lines had been shut since the 2015 Refugio oil spill and remained subject to California regulatory approval; invoking the 1950 national-defense statute let the administration override the state hold, and oil resumed flowing on March 14. California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued days later, calling the order executive overreach that purported to authorize illegal oil transportation through state-regulated pipelines.
E&E News investigation reveals Energy Department banned 'climate change,' 'decarbonization,' and other terms from EERE work products
The Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy directed employees to avoid approximately a dozen scientific and policy terms — including "climate change," "decarbonization," "clean energy," and "energy transition" — in all work products, including the agency website, internal reports, and federal funding opportunity descriptions. E\&E News first reported the directive on September 29; NPR independently obtained an internal email confirming it, contradicting DOE\'s public denial that any such ban applied to those terms. EERE is the federal government's largest funder of clean energy technology, with a $3.46 billion annual budget and a statutory mission under the Energy Policy Act to advance energy efficiency and renewable energy research.