Following the release of multiple energy-related executive orders earlier this month aimed at “reinvigorating” the American coal industry, strengthening the reliability and security of the electrical grid, and removing controversial climate change regulations, experts say the policies will help usher in a new era of American energy independence and enhanced national security.

On April 8, President Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to stop the enforcement of “all State and local laws, regulations, causes of action, policies, and practices (collectively, State laws) burdening the identification, development, siting, production, or use of domestic energy resources that are or may be unconstitutional,” particularly laws “purporting to address ‘climate change’ or involving ‘environmental, social, and governance’ initiatives, ‘environmental justice,’ carbon or ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions, and funds to collect carbon penalties or carbon taxes.”

Also on April 8, Trump signed an executive order with the purpose of revitalizing the clean coal industry and increasing coal production. Among other actions, the EO lifts barriers to mining coal on federal lands, encourages investment in coal-fired electricity generation, and accelerating the development of new coal technologies.

Coal experts like Family Research Council Senior Fellow Ken Blackwell say that the EO is a welcomed step toward taking advantage of America’s abundant natural resources for the benefit of its citizens.

“[W]hat the president understands is that we have well over 300 years worth of coal right here within the confines of the United States,” he explained during “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” last week. “We know how to use it and use it in clean and effective ways. What the president understands is that we’ve got to unbundle [and] unknot the regulatory red tape. We, in fact, have to regain energy dominance, and it will do a couple of things. We want to push the dominance in terms of data and data generation. We have about five new operations coming online, and that’s going to have a real energy demand. What the president understands is that we need to be able to fuel that demand ourselves, and we can do it with our coal and gas supply.”

Blackwell further argued that the move will “create jobs. We’re going to drop the prices of gas at the pump. And you know what? We’re going to be able to drop the cost of food, because a lot of what we do in this country in terms of agriculture is tied into our energy supply.”

Blackwell went on to contend that the EO is a commonsense reversal of the Biden administration’s policies that restricted the coal industry by arguing that coal emissions harmed the environment and contributed to climate change, especially since the U.S. now has cleaner air than it ever has.

“China is the worst violator of any clean energy standards in the world, and the Left seems to be ready to capitulate to them,” he pointed out. “We’ve put in place over the last 30 years the technology that actually helps us keep our air clean, and it helps us to clean the coal as we use it to fuel the economic expansion that the president is looking for. Look, at the end of the day, we are not only the smartest population on the face of the earth when we in fact are given incentives, we’re the hardest working population on the face of the Earth, and it has not been accidental that we’re the world’s economic leader. And President Trump is making sure that we become more muscular … in an economic sense as we gain dominance once again as the world’s leading independent producer of energy.”

Trump signed yet another EO on April 8 that addressed the growing strain on America’s electrical grid and the threat this is to national security, directing the secretary of Energy to develop policies to mitigate against grid failure by utilizing “all available power generation resources, particularly those secure, redundant fuel supplies that are capable of extended operations.”

Blackwell likewise maintained that Trump’s energy policies will help strengthen national security and anticipated that they will help boost the economy.

“I think by this time next year, it will be very clear that we’re on the path of energy dominance once again,” he predicted. “It’s in our national security interests, it is in Europe’s interest that we, in fact, not push them to a point where they’re dependent on Russian ore and energy sources. This is a comprehensive strategy to get our economy moving, building jobs, and building a national security apparatus that’s in the interest of our national safety and our people’s well-being.”