The U.S. House approved a bill sponsored by Republican Congressman Michael Rulli to codify into law President Donald Trump’s executive order to reestablish the National Coal Council to provide advice on the industry.

The bill needed the approval of four Democrats to pass 217-209 because three Republicans voted against it.

The bill moves to the Senate for consideration.

Rulli, R-Salem, introduced the bill on April 24, 18 days after Trump, a fellow Republican, issued an executive order, called “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry.” The executive order included having Energy Secretary Chris Wright reinstate the 50-member National Coal Council that provides him guidance on the future of coal technologies and markets.

Members of the council represent coal producers, users, equipment suppliers, state and local officials, and other stakeholders across the coal value chain, according to the Department of Energy. The council had faced criticism from environmental groups that contended it favored the interests of the coal industry over the public.

While Trump’s executive order returned the council to its advisory capacity, Rulli’s legislation would have Congress codify it into law even though its elimination wasn’t done through congressional action.

The council was established in 1984 during the Republican Ronald Reagan presidential administration to provide advice on the industry to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy.

In November 2021, the DOE, during the presidential administration of Democrat Joe Biden, allowed the council’s charter to expire rather than be renewed. Prior to that, its charter was last renewed in 2019.

Rulli’s district, with Mahoning as its most-populous county, includes several other counties with coal production facilities.

Rulli said the council is “a powerful voice for coal and a timeless champion for American workers and American communities. Coal fuels the factories, powers our homes and helped build the greatest economy this world has ever seen. It’s ridiculous to neglect this.”

All but three Republican House members – Brian K. Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Nick LaLota and Nicole Malliotakis, both of New York – voted in favor of Rulli’s bill.

All but four Democratic House members voted against it. The four Democrats who voted in support of Rulli’s bill were Sanford D. Bishop of Georgia, Donald G. Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington.

Had the four Democrats voted against Rulli’s bill, the vote would have failed in a 213-213 tie.

Before the vote, Rulli called his bill “a Paul Revere moment where we are calling everyone to realize that the meltdown is coming and what I mean by that is the (power) grid is going to melt down. The grid is not stable.”

Rulli said: “Paul Revere would be turning in his grave if he saw the jeopardy that these (Democrats) are putting our country through by putting the grid up against the wall.”

Rulli added: “When they say that this is a meaningless bill, it couldn’t be further from the truth. This is a bill for national security.”

Rulli said there are seven or eight investors in his district “ready to build new coal capacity. They want to attract AI companies, data centers and data mining jobs to Ohio. But if there’s no energy, no one is coming. No jobs, no growth, no future.”

The DOE’s most-recent annual coal report, released Oct. 30, 2024, showed the number of employees at U.S. coal mines increased in 2023 by 1,894 from 2022 to a total of 45,476 workers. While coal production decreased by 2.8% year over year, the number of producing coal mines increased from 548 to 560, the DOE report states.

In 2018, there were 53,583 coal workers, according to DOE statistics.

Also, more coal has been mined west of the Mississippi River every year since 1999, according to the DOE report. Coal production expanded significantly in the West starting in the 1970s because of new emission regulations that restricted sulfur emissions with low-sulfur coal mostly found in the West, new large-scale surfacing mines in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin and other areas in the West, and lower freight rail shipping costs, according to the DOE.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration released a report last week showing a 30% per capita reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 to 2023 nationwide with Ohio having a 34% reduction primarily “because less coal was burned in the electric power sector.” But the report forecasts a 1% increase in total carbon dioxide emissions this year in part because of an increase in coal production.

A July 23 EIA analysis states: “The long-term decrease in U.S. coal consumption will temporarily reverse in 2025 primarily because of rising electricity demand and coal’s increased competitiveness in the electric power sector, which accounted for more than 90% of U.S. coal consumption in 2024.”

The EIA forecasted a 6% increase this year in coal consumption followed by a 6% decrease in 2026 because of “planned coal-power plant retirements and increasing renewable capacity coming online.”