Trump's unrealistic promises in coal country
Source: The Hill
May 10, 2016, 06:00 am
Trump's unrealistic promises in coal country
By Daniel Cohan, contributor
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump pledged last week to revive coal mining employment in Appalachia. "We're going to get those miners back to work," Trump said, adding: "The miners of West Virginia and Pennsylvania ... Ohio and all over are going to start to work again, believe me." He later donned a coal miner's helmet for a West Virginia rally lined with signs proclaiming "Trump Digs Coal."
Despite the bold pledge, Trump is about as likely to bring back the heyday of coal mining employment as to cajole Mexico to fund a border wall. Neither is going to happen, no matter who is elected president.
The factors pushing down Appalachian coal mining employment extend far beyond the powers of a campaign pledge. Employment began to decline in the 1980s, as production shifted to Western states like Wyoming where thick seams of coal could be accessed with far fewer workers than needed in Appalachian mines. By the time President Obama took office, job counts had fallen by more than half nationally, even as coal production stood near record highs.
Since then, hydraulic fracturing technologies opened up natural gas supplies that previously had been unaccessible in shale formations. As natural gas prices fell, gas became a cheaper option than coal for generating electricity. Beyond cost, natural gas offers utilities a more nimble option than coal for balancing variable demands as more intermittent power sources such as wind and solar are integrated into the grid. Natural gas is expected to exceed coal as a source of electricity for the first time this year.
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Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/energy-environment/279315-trumps-unrealistic-promises-in-coal-country
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