Lawmakers Push Back Against Trumps $75M Coal Terminal Proposal

On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced a $75 million coal export terminal in Oakland, a controversial project with pushback from some local representatives. 

The Oakland terminal is just one of 13 total projects proposed. Trump invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, allowing him to provide $700 million to build American coal-fired power plants and export infrastructure. According to a U.S. Department of Energy news release Thursday, the West Gateway Terminal Project in Oakland is key to expanding export capacity to countries including South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

In the release, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said the projects will be central to national security, domestic supply chains and American energy advancement. However, some lawmakers disagree.

"Trump just handed the dying coal industry $700 million in taxpayer money, and Americans will pay for it twice -- once on their taxes, and again when their energy bills climb, their air gets dirtier, and their water gets less safe to drink," said U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, in a press release. "All to prop up the dirtiest, most expensive fuel we have, a relic the rest of the world is leaving behind."

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