Trump Administration Unveils Coal Mascot 'Coalie'

The Trump administration is hoping a grinning cartoon lump of coal can help revive a dying industry. The character, "Coalie," was unveiled in an image posted on X by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who called the mascot a "spokesperson" for President Trump's "American Energy Dominance Agenda." Coalie, styled with oversized eyes and a cheerful smile, is now featured by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), the federal agency that oversees coal mine regulation and cleanup, per the Guardian. On the agency's website, the character appears in what look like AI-generated scenes, including showcasing an abandoned mine repurposed as a picnic spot.

The cute images didn't land as intended, per Grist, which describes backlash (see here) owing in part to Trump's signing of a law redirecting $500 million meant for coal mine cleanup to fund the Forest Service and wildfire management just a day after the mascot's unveiling. Apart from that, climate advocates say dressing up coal doesn't change its impact. Coal is the most carbon-intensive major fuel and a significant source of air pollution, tied to health problems such as black lung disease among miners. "I think it's sick … to use AI to put a smiling face to one of the most heinous ways to produce energy that our world has ever seen," Junior Walk of Coal River Mountain Watch, who has chronicled mining's toll on his West Virginia community, tells the Guardian.

Trump has championed what he calls "clean, beautiful coal," rolled back environmental rules, halted planned plant closures, and placed coal on a list of critical minerals. But the industry has kept shrinking under pressure from cheaper natural gas and renewables, along with automation. An OSMRE spokesperson defended Coalie—who first emerged in 2018 as a social media gag—as an "educational tool," not a promotional mascot, arguing the cartoon helps explain complex topics like mine reclamation and highlights projects that benefit communities. The agency maintains coal is a "critical source of baseload power" for key infrastructure and says Coalie is meant to draw attention to "regulation, reclamation, and responsible stewardship."