Urgent Action Needed: Stop the $1 Million Port Fee – Protect U.S. Coal Exports!

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is considering a new $1 million port fee on ships — a move that could devastate American coal exports, kill thousands of jobs, and weaken our global energy position.

We need your voice! This proposed fee will make it nearly impossible for U.S. coal to compete in global markets, hurting workers, communities, and our nation’s economy. If you support American coal, take action now. 

Sign the Letter – Submit your response to the USTR using our pre-written letter.

Protect U.S. Jobs – Coal supports over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs across the country.

Defend Energy Security – Our global allies rely on U.S. coal to avoid dependence on hostile nations.

Stop Unintended Consequences – The proposed policy will disrupt supply chains, increase costs, and hurt businesses. 

Submit Your Letter in Just 60 Seconds!

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The Value of Coal 

Mission: This is the first in a series of articles from Coal is the Cornerstone, Inc. identifying and documenting the societal value of coal. Over the past two decades, rhetoric and hyperbole have camouflaged the continuing contributions coal makes to the lives of virtually every human on the planet. Energy is the sine qua non of life, and coal has been, is, and continues to be our most important collective source of energy. From electricity to steel to cement to communication coal is the fundamental building block of modern civilization. Our general goal in these articles is to provide evidence of the role coal plays in contemporary society and the vast opportunities it presents for a world soon to have 10 billion people.

Specifically, our initial focus is on the role that coal plays in the production of electricity and steel, not only in the United States but internationally as well. Existing coal power plants, the hundreds of new coal plants under construction, as well as retired plants that could be recommissioned, need an advocate highlighting their potential to (1) affordably enhance the reliability of power systems and (2) improve the quality of life of billions by increasing access to electricity. Simply put, an expanded fleet of coal power plants is emerging as the world’s greatest single electricity asset.  Similarly, the role of steel in enabling the expansion, renovation and construction of cities receives scant recognition in the media or elsewhere. Yet, without steel, modern cities cannot be maintained or built, and without coal, steel cannot be produced at scale.

The  Value of Coal

Coal has been the material foundation of industrialization, urbanization, modernization and technological development for more than two centuries. The examples are endless.  It was coal that propelled an Industrial Revolution in England that spread throughout the world. It was coal that provided the electrification of virtually every society. Coal was the foundational fuel for the electrification of the Tennessee Valley Authority and brought myriad associated benefits to the cities, towns and farms across the entire American landscape. It was coal that powered the Transcontinental Railroad and the steamships that traversed every ocean. Coal produced the steel that enabled the skyscrapers, bridges, hospitals, highways, dams. irrigation systems and power plants.  Such steel remains the backbone of practically every home, factory, school and hospital.  And it was coal that provided the means to lift millions upon millions out of poverty-- saved and extended human existence to enjoy a higher quality of life. It is no coincidence that the increase in life expectancy from 48 in 1900 to 76 in 2000 was highly correlated with the rise of coal-based electricity. No wonder that the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) identified "electrification" as the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century.

But coal is far more than history. It is a current global reality, improving the daily lives of billions of people throughout the world. Coal provides over 35% of the world’s electricity -- over 4 times more than wind and upwards of 7 times more than solar. Natural Gas generation would have to increase more than 50% to match that of coal. Coal is the energy basis for the production of about 70% of the world’s steel and almost 60% of cement. Urbanization - the most important demographic trend of the Century- is wholly dependent upon electric power, steel and cement.  The 4.6 billion people in cities today will increase to 6.7 billion by 2050 - an increase of almost 85 million every year, virtually a new Mexico City every 3 months. In the United States, coal remains the solid source of electricity at 16% and experience has shown that when a Polar Vortex strikes the nation it is reliable coal that picks up the slack left by other fuels.

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Undoing the Regulatory Assault on Grid Reliability

Just a week ago the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the “biggest deregulatory action in history,” announcing 31 actions to unleash American energy, lower the cost of living, restore the rule of law and give power back to states to make their own decisions. Notably, on the urgent issue of rapidly eroding grid reliability, the EPA listened to the pleas of the nation’s grid operators, utilities and energy regulators and began the urgent work of undoing the Biden administration’s regulatory assault on the coal fleet.

As Rich Nolan, the National Mining Association’s president and CEO, said of EPA’s historic actions, “The reliability alarms are blaring as power demand growth from AI and data centers is colliding with eroding generation; until now, our energy policy has turned a blind eye to that reality.” He added, “when the experts—from FERC to NERC and even the RTOs—tell us we’re teetering on the edge of failure, we must believe them. Urgent and decisive action to stop rules specifically designed to target and prematurely close well-operating coal power plants is not only appropriate, it’s necessary and long overdue.”

Mark Christie, the Chairman of FERC said in January, “America is facing a reliability crisis driven by the dangerous pace of retirements of dispatchable generation.” It’s a crisis the previous administration not only ignored but actively deepened.

Over the past four years, as acute power supply shortfalls emerged across the country like a nightmarish game of whack-a-mole, essential coal power plants continued to be pushed off the grid not because the market was telling operators they weren’t needed – just the opposite was true – but because the Biden EPA had authored a suite of rules to force their closure.

The Cumulative Impact

The Clean Power Plan 2.0 with its unworkable and unlawful technology mandates batted clean-up for a blitz of other rules that were carefully designed and sequenced to do one thing: force coal plants offline.

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