Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray told CNBC President-elect Donald Trump has an obligation to follow through on his vow to revive the coal industry.
"Mr. Trump has a mandate to carry out what he said," Murray said in an interview shown on "Squawk on the Street" on Wednesday. "It's going to be difficult to do it all, but he's got to do it. And, he's got to do it in a short-time frame."
Murray Energy is a privately owned coal company based in Ohio, and produces about 65 million tons of bituminous coal each year, according to its website.
Trump won over the U.S. coal industry by repeatedly promising to revive the troubled sector and put miners back to work by ending regulations and encouraging mining on federal lands. But Trump has not acknowledged that the U.S. natural gas boom is a primary reason for the decline in coal use.
—Tom DiChristopher contributed to the report.