{"id":451930,"date":"2026-02-03T21:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/451930\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T21:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:12:07","slug":"its-sick-trump-administration-uses-mascot-called-coalie-to-push-dirtiest-fossil-fuel-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/451930\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s sick\u2019: Trump administration uses mascot called \u2018Coalie\u2019 to push dirtiest fossil fuel | Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration<\/a> has turned to an unusual weapon in its attempt to resurrect coal mining \u2013 a cartoon lump of coal<\/a>, complete with giant eyes and yellow mining garb, called \u201cCoalie\u201d.<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s new mascot, kitted out with a helmet, boots and gloves, was introduced in a seemingly artificial intelligence-generated picture posted online by Doug Burgum, Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s interior secretary. \u201cMine, Baby, Mine!\u201d Burgum wrote on X<\/a>, adding that Coalie will act as a \u201cspokesperson\u201d for Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerican Energy Dominance Agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n

Climate activists criticized the latest attempt by the administration to boost the image of the dirtiest fossil fuel despite its impacts on the planet and public health, with one critic describing it as \u201cone of the most heinous ways to produce energy that our world has ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coalie, whose large eyes and grin appears to invoke a Japanese style of cuteness used in toys and animated characters, is to be an ambassador for the office of surface mining reclamation and enforcement (OSMRE), the US government agency responsible for regulating coalmines.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump and Doug Burgum speak in West Palm Beach, Florida, on 19 January 2026. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/AP<\/p>\n

Further images of Coalie appear on the OSMRE website<\/a>, where the anthropomorphic hunk of carbon is depicted joyfully posing with what appeared to be an AI-generated family, standing on an office table during a meeting while giving cheeky wink and happily showing off an abandoned coalmine that has been turned into a bucolic picnic site.<\/p>\n

The image of Coalie was first created in 2018 when a social media manager at the OSMRE put googly eyes on a picture of coal, according<\/a> to Grist. The new public use of Coalie to promote Trump\u2019s agenda is the latest attempt<\/a> by the administration to revamp a US coal industry that has declined sharply in the past decade despite the president\u2019s promises<\/a> to reverse the fortunes of the industry\u2019s dwindling workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a little standing order in the White House,\u201d Trump said last year during a speech to the United Nations. \u201cNever use the word \u2018coal\u2019. Only use the words \u2018clean, beautiful coal\u2019. Sounds much better, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite this branding, and the attempt to make a lump of coal appear cute, coal remains the dirtiest of fossil fuels, being a major driver<\/a> of the climate crisis and a source of toxic, deadly air pollution<\/a> to nearby communities when burned. Coal miners have long struggled with adverse health affects, such as black lung disease<\/a>, after inhaling coal dust.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s sick \u2026 and par for the course for this administration and the US government to use AI to put a smiling face to one of the most heinous ways to produce energy that our world has ever seen,\u201d said Junior Walk, an activist at Coal River Mountain Watch<\/a> who has documented the impact of coal mining on his West Virginia community<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs climate change plunges us deeper into the mass extinction event that we are all living through, and more of my friends and neighbors get sick and die as a direct result of the activities of the coal industry, I will continue to be haunted by Coalie\u2019s twisted grin and uncanny eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has signed an executive order to revive coal, added it to a list of nationally critically minerals, halted the planned closures of coal plants and torn apart environmental rules he blames for the industry\u2019s woes. However, coal continues to suffer<\/a> from market forces \u2013 gas and renewables such as wind and solar are often cheaper and more attractive sources of electricity for utilities \u2013 and workers are being lost<\/a> to automation.<\/p>\n

Miners with black lung disease, meanwhile, have had to battle<\/a> the Trump administration\u2019s move to roll back safety protections for the coal industry, while the Republican-held Congress is poised to strip<\/a> $500m from the budget of a fund to clean up old coalmines that are hazardous to the environment long after they are abandoned.<\/p>\n

The Department of the Interior and the OSMRE were contacted for comment about the mascot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Trump administration has turned to an unusual weapon in its attempt to resurrect coal mining \u2013 a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-451930","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}