By MELISSA GOLDIN and JENNIFER McDERMOTT

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed four executive orders designed to boost the U.S. coal industry, outlining steps to protect coal-fired power plants and expedite leases for coal mining on U.S. land. But in touting the benefits of coal, he misrepresented several aspects of its safety and use.

Here’s a look at the facts.

CLAIM: “I call it beautiful, clean coal. I told my people, never use the word coal unless you put beautiful, clean before it.”

THE FACTS: The production of coal is cleaner now than it has been historically, but that doesn’t mean it’s clean.

Planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from the coal industry have decreased over the past 30 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Energy lobbyist Scott Segal said that “the relative statement that coal-fired electricity is cleaner than ever before is true, particularly when emissions are measured per unit of electricity produced.”

And yet, coal production worldwide still needs to be reduced sharply to address climate change, according to United Nations-backed research.

Along with carbon dioxide, burning coal emits sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that contribute to acid rain, smog and respiratory illnesses, according to the EIA.

Over the past 15 years, the U.S. has seen a major shift from coal to natural gas for electricity use, a key reason U.S. carbon emissions have declined over that period.

Coal once provided more than half of U.S. electricity production, but its share dropped to about 16% in 2023, down from about 45% as recently as 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of U.S. electricity, with the remainder from nuclear energy and renewables such as wind, solar and hydropower.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright acknowledged during his confirmation hearing in January that the burning of fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas — causes climate change. That’s because the combustion of fossil fuels is drastically increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, warming the planet.

TRUMP: “It’s cheap, incredibly efficient, high density and it’s almost indestructible.”

THE FACTS: Coal is one of the most expensive sources of new power generation. New coal plants would produce electricity at nearly $90 per megawatt hour on average, though no one in the U.S. is currently building or planning to build a new coal plant, according to estimates from the EIA.

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Standalone solar without battery storage is the cheapest source of new power generation at about $23 per megawatt hour on average for new projects connecting to the grid in 2028, the EIA estimates. That includes tax credits and other subsidies under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which help reduce the cost of renewable energy.

New natural gas plants are expected to produce electricity at nearly $43 per megawatt hour, according to the estimates.

A nonpartisan climate policy think tank, Energy Innovation, found that 99% of existing U.S. coal plants are more expensive to keep running than if they’re replaced with local solar, wind, and battery storage. Americans immediately begin saving money when coal plants retire and communities transition to clean energy, according to Energy Innovation’s 2023 report.

“Trump has promised to cut American energy bills in half – this is yet another way he’s forcing Americans to pay more,” Greg Alvarez, a spokesperson with Energy Innovations, wrote in an email Tuesday.

Coal plants operated at full power about 42.4% of the time in 2023, according to EIA’s most recent data. In comparison, nuclear and geothermal plants ranked highest, at about 93% and 69.4%, respectively.

CLAIM: “The value of untapped coal in our country is 100 times greater than the value of all the gold at Fort Knox.”

THE FACTS: Although the U.S. does have an abundance of coal, its estimated value is not nearly as high as Trump claims.

There are currently about 147.3 million troy ounces of gold stored at Fort Knox with a book value of approximately $6.2 billion, according to the U.S. Treasury. Gold closed on the open market Tuesday, trading at $2,990.20 per troy ounce, making its market value much higher, at about $440.6 billion. A troy ounce, a weight measurement for precious metals, is approximately 31.1 grams.

There were about 469.1 billion short tons of coal in U.S. reserves as of Jan. 1, 2024, according to the EIA, though only about 53% of that was available for mining. EIA estimates its value at approximately $598.3 billion. That’s more than all of the gold at Fort Knox, but far short of 100 times that amount. A short ton, also known as a U.S. ton, is equivalent to 2,000 pounds.

TRUMP: “They’re opening up coal, coal plants all over Germany.”

THE FACTS: That’s not accurate. According to Germany’s economy ministry, 18 coal-fired power plants were shut down in 2024. “No new coal-fired power plants will be built,” a spokesman for the ministry said Wednesday in response to a question about Trump’s claims. The spokesperson noted the country plans to phase out coal-fired power generation by 2038 at the latest.

Germany did bring some coal-fired plants back online in 2022 and 2023 to deal with natural gas shortages after Russia invaded Ukraine. The government allowed up to six gigawatts of coal-fired power plants to return from the reserve to the market for a limited period of time. They were taken offline by the end of March 2024, according to Agora Energiewende, a Berlin-based climate policy think thank.

Associated Press climate, environment and energy writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is seeking a rate increase this summer that includes hiking the cost of a first-class stamp from 73 cents to 78 cents.

The request was made Wednesday to the Postal Regulatory Commission, which must OK the proposal. If approved, the 5-cent increase for a “forever” stamp and similar increases for postcards, metered letters and international mail would take effect July 13.

The proposed changes would raise mailing services product prices approximately 7.4%.

The Postal Service contends, as it did last year when it enacted a similar increase, that it’s needed to achieve financial stability.

Former U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy previously warned postal customers to get used to “uncomfortable” rate hikes as the Postal Service seeks to become self-sufficient. He said price increases were overdue after “at least 10 years of a defective pricing model.”

DeJoy resigned in March after nearly five years in the position, leaving as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency had floated the idea of privatizing mail service.

Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino has taken on the role of postmaster general until the Postal Service Board of Governors names a permanent replacement for DeJoy.

Trump has said he is considering putting USPS under the control of the Commerce Department in an effort to stop losses at the $78 billion-a-year agency, which has struggled at times to balance the books with the decline of first-class mail.

At the NHL trade deadline a month ago, Wild general manager Bill Guerin didn’t make any blockbuster moves, insisting that the big additions for his club would be the return of Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek before regular season’s end.

With four games left, Guerin and Wild fans finally get some semblance of their full team back tonight when the San Jose Sharks come to St. Paul for a visit. On Wednesday afternoon, the Wild officially activated Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek from injured reserve.

After Wednesday’s morning skate, coach John Hynes said he was hopeful the pair could play against the Sharks.

“Obviously, it changes the dynamic of your lines and you have to move some things around,” Hynes said. “I think the most important thing is those guys have been off for a while and have worked hard to get back and we want them to come back and get into the game and bring what they can bring.”

The projected lineup sent out by the Wild’s social media team on Wednesday afternoon has Eriksson Ek centering the team’s top line between Marcus Foligno and Matt Boldy, and Kaprizov playing left wing on a line with Marco Rossi at center and Mats Zuccarello on the other wing.

The Wild reassigned forwards Devin Shore and Brendan Gaunce to Iowa to make room on the active roster.

Kaprizov has played in just three games since Christmas while dealing with a lower body injury and was shut down to have the ailment surgically repaired in late January. Eriksson Ek has played one game since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off, where he was part of Team Sweden. He has been out with a lower body injury since Feb. 25.

The Wild have gone 8-10-3 since then, and their once-comfortable lead in the playoff race has shrunk to just four points over Calgary for the final Western Conference postseason spot. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Flames have a game in hand on Minnesota, and host the Wild on Friday night in Calgary.

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An elderly Forest Lake man lost almost $1 million after scammers persuaded him to withdraw cash from his bank and deposit it into a cryptocurrency ATM.

Another resident told police he lost $600,000 before he realized he was being scammed.

Cryptocurrency ATMs, like this one at a gas station in Woodbury, are sometimes used by scammers as a means of collecting money from victims, who have little hope of ever getting it back. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“It’s sad. They get in a panic, they just get tunnel vision, and they lose all sense of reasonableness,” said Det. Nathan Olstad of the Forest Lake Police Department.

Once the cash is deposited into a cryptocurrency ATM, it is almost impossible to recover the funds, Olstad said.

The Forest Lake City Council is expected to vote on a new ordinance next week that could help others from being scammed. The proposed ordinance would require that all cryptocurrency ATMs located within the city be registered.

City officials already register businesses that pose obvious public health or safety concerns, such as liquor stores, cannabis shops and tattoo parlors, said City Attorney Amanda Johnson. Cryptocurrency ATMs are no different because of the amount of fraud running through the machines, the vulnerable population groups targeted and the inability to recover the stolen funds, Johnson said.

Cryptocurrency ATMs

Cryptocurrency ATMs or kiosks resemble conventional ATMs, but they focus on cryptocurrency-related transactions. People can use them to withdraw funds from their cryptocurrency accounts or purchase more cryptocurrency.

People use cryptocurrency for many reasons: quick payments, to avoid transaction fees that traditional banks charge or because it offers some anonymity, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Once you pay with cryptocurrency, you can usually only get your money back if the person you paid sends it back, according to the FTC.

In 2023, crypto fraud cost Americans an estimated $5.6 billion, according to a report from the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

“Since cryptocurrencies eliminate the need for financial intermediaries to validate and facilitate transactions, criminals can exploit these characteristics to support illicit activity such as thefts, fraud and money laundering,” the report states.

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The proposed Forest Lake ordinance would require owners of businesses where cryptocurrency ATMs are located to register each machine with the city; complete an application; pay a $2,000 fee, and provide written confirmation from the Forest Lake Police Department that the cryptocurrency ATM operator “has had no more than two instances of substantiated fraud, as determined by the FLPD involving any kiosk owned or operated by that kiosk operator within the city in the past six months,” according to the proposed ordinance.

“Basically, if you’ve been behaving badly, you don’t get to play here,” Johnson said. “As long as you’re keeping it clean, fine.”

Other proposed requirements for registration: the posting of a city-provided sign warning of the danger for fraud and scams; the installation of a dedicated, closed-circuit camera, positioned as required by police; agreeing to provide video footage to the police department within 48 hours of request, and passing compliance checks.

In addition, if a business has had a previous registration denied, suspended or revoked, the owner of the business may not apply for a new registration for two years, Johnson said.

The goal of the ordinance is to balance the protection of the community without instituting a ban on the cryptocurrency ATMs, Johnson said. “If you are not doing something that’s harming the people who live or work or play in Forest Lake, then you get to continue,” she said.

‘Tough to swallow’

In 2023 and 2024, residents reported losing $300,000 in scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs, and the majority of the victims were elderly, Olstad said.

“It’s tough to swallow when you know that money more than likely is not just not-recoverable — it’s out of the country,” he said.

Police have investigated a number of reports involving the Bitcoin Depot ATM at the Holiday Station at 1208 Broadway Ave. in Forest Lake.

In one case, a Forest Lake Police Department employee spotted a woman about to deposit $16,000 in cash into the Bitcoin Depot ATM.

The woman told police she was working on a laptop computer when a pop-up message appeared stating that she had a virus in her system and to call the provided phone number. Scammers convinced the woman that her computer had a virus related to child pornography and persuaded her to download an app onto her cell phone and then log into her U.S. Bank account.

They then persuaded her to withdraw all her money from U.S. Bank, go to the Bitcoin Depot ATM and deposit the money into a “safekeeping account” that they set up for her, the reports state.

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“The woman admitted she didn’t know how to use the ATM and didn’t know the person she was on the phone with,” the report states. “She stopped her transaction and went to US Bank to deposit her funds back into her account and then came to the police department to file a report.”

Two other cities in Washington County also are working on measures to protect residents from scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs. Like Forest Lake, officials in Woodbury are considering an ordinance that would require the registration of the business that hosts the ATMs. The Stillwater City Council, meanwhile, is moving forward with a plan to ban crypto ATMs within city limits.

The Forest Lake City Council will vote on its proposed ordinance on Monday.