As Trump pushed mines to increase production, protections for black lung victims stalled
Source: WFPL Louisville, KY/NPR
Published December 25, 2025 at 12:00 PM EST
During President Trump’s first year back in the Oval Office, mining has played a large role. In his quest to amass rare earth minerals, he’s pressed Ukraine for mining rights and, lately, is eyeing a massive public investment in mines in Greenland. Domestically, he’s displayed a penchant for coal, too. After an executive order hoping to “reinvigorate” a dying coal industry, his administration added metallurgical coal to a federal list of “critical minerals.”
The Trump administration also established a “National Energy Dominance Council” to try to promote extraction of things like coal and uranium through “cutting red tape” and eliminating "unnecessary regulation.” “This president is the best friend mining ever had,” said Jarrod Agen, head of the council. It brings to mind a common refrain among the families who do the actual work: “Are you a friend of the mines or a friend of miners?”
In December, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found nearly 2,000 deaths from coal workers’ pneumoconiosis from 2020 to 2023. It's an incurable lung disease commonly called “black lung” and, in its worst form, makes simply breathing a painful exercise.
Of those deaths, 72% were from people who had worked in the mining industry for most of their adult life. The researchers wrote that the actual number of deaths from black lung was “significantly higher than the expected number” based on previous research. Researchers say the data “underscores the potential value of a comprehensive prevention program.”
Read more: https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-12-25/as-trump-pushed-mines-to-increase-production-protections-for-black-lung-victims-stalled
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