Obviously the short-term gain is the perception that he's creating "jobs, jobs, jobs" for his coal-miners and more importantly, his high-dollar buddies in that industry, and the long-term gain is ..... ummmm......I can't see one. Maybe those lands that will surely be devastated to resemble Kentucky's flattened mountains, will be "saved" by some deep-pocketed investor who plans to open another solar farm (just like in Kentucky). I guess that will make this entire idea a win-win for Donnie Dollars and his Denizens.
4
An industry spokesperson complains that the coal industry is coming under the same kind of attacks as the tobacco companies suffered in the '90s - "Wasn't it terrible what happened to the tobacco companies? Everybody talking about all the harm they were doing? All those facts brought out, all their lies exposed? Believe me, this could happen to us, too!" And he expects sympathy from the audience.
Maybe you have to be a liberal to see the irony.
Maybe you have to be a liberal to see the irony.
9
Access to energy is a universally understood need for the economic progress of society. In the 19th century what are today the advanced economies of the world started to get worried about damage to air and water emanating from their "development"; during the 20th century these first moving countries enacted regulations to protect water and air, even if it raised the energy cost; a bold and brave step. That vision and leadership has taken years to reach the developing world thinking; in particular because low cost energy trumps clean energy if the majority of your population is poor. Coal has seen better days but it still produces ~40% of worldwide energy, being most prominent in Asia. Like coal displaced burning wood, time has come for natural gas and renewables to displace coal, this will only happen if the developed economy leads; shuts it down and lends a hand to the emerging world to transition without starving their young energy needs. Fossil fuels are not ideal yet we can do much better rushing to the cleaner fossil fuels while renewables scale to the ginormous requirements of our planet. To see the US debate back and forth on coal is interesting yet due to its influence in the world , this same debate stalls the entire world; prolonging the likelihood that the winds blowing over the US remain of deteriorating quality. The US, Europe and the advanced economies must have the resolve to turn the page on coal. Natural gas is cheap and plentiful nowadays. Do it.
2
It was political acts that stopped the coal leases. there is nothing wrong with a political act being the reason for putting it back into production. And cherry picking some ranchers for negativity, is easy to do, but a bit dishonest, too. Being in touch with many of the people out west for most of my life< I can guarantee you that their main desire is to be able to use the land and its resources for the good of the American People, not for what a bunch of unelected bureaucrats decide is right for them and their empire building.
2
I agree with your first premise--as a premise. If government can do it, then government can undo it. And, I agree with your observation about cherry-picking examples. That said, few constituencies in the U.S. want to do harm to the American people--your statement implies there are constituencies that actively want to harm.
The divergent platforms of the two primary parties are built on casting the other's as harmful when both parties bring positive and negative policy positions to the table. Personally, I am a liberal so I don't believe unrestrained free enterprise can solve every problem and, therefore, I see an unrestrained free market as doing more harm than necessary or prudent. That said, the free market is the best system out there. I'm not a socialist, but I believe some problems are best solved, if incredibly inefficiently, with social programs. Am I harming the U.S. with my beliefs and supporting investments? My answer? No more than unrestrained free trade that is short sighted and slanted by big money and quarterly profits.
The divergent platforms of the two primary parties are built on casting the other's as harmful when both parties bring positive and negative policy positions to the table. Personally, I am a liberal so I don't believe unrestrained free enterprise can solve every problem and, therefore, I see an unrestrained free market as doing more harm than necessary or prudent. That said, the free market is the best system out there. I'm not a socialist, but I believe some problems are best solved, if incredibly inefficiently, with social programs. Am I harming the U.S. with my beliefs and supporting investments? My answer? No more than unrestrained free trade that is short sighted and slanted by big money and quarterly profits.
8
New life for the coal industry is unwise, unhealthy for the miners and unhealthy for the world. Time for the miners to find better safer and cleaner jobs. Time for Trump ( who has encouraged mining merely to win votes and cares nothing about black lung disease) to stop pushing his closed selfish vote issue.
7
Please prove the your claim that President Trump "cares nothing about black lung disease" Real citations to a balanced source(s) is the only way you can do it.
1
The president is old, he very well may be suffering from dementia and unfit for duty. He may very well not know that this is the most damaging and stupid decision anyone could make. The alternative is he is stupid and makes damaging decisions.
8
I can't believe so many trump supporters read the times - that's AWESOME!
4
Coal mining on public lands a good thing. This god given gift properly administered for the public good achieves the highest purpose our government is designed to fulfill.
1
Yeah, man! Enlightened development, use and restoration is the name of the game.
I am a scientist who lost funding for working with the fed govt, assessing habitats in many areas of our nation, including those impacted by the coal industry.
Coal mining practices denude mountaintops of vegetation and destroy headwatering streams which support watershed function and water quality. Reclamation and restoration is dubious, expensive and poorly planned. How can restoring 480 million year-old geomorphology and the attending biologic, chemical and hydrologic functions and values be even possible? It's not.
https://thinkprogress.org/scientists-have-now-quantified-mountaintop-rem...
http://appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/
Acceleration of this industry poses significant and permanent deleterious impacts on fish and wildlife habitats, water resources and the climate (yes, Mr. Zinke, resources to be protected by the Interior, not destroyed).
Furthering coal extraction disconnects with global clean energy initiatives and our advances in environmental regulation over the past four decades. It shows a disdain of the successes of our former administration, and disgraces the heritage of our public lands.
Disconnect, disdain and disgrace that also ignores and hurts our children.
Coal mining practices denude mountaintops of vegetation and destroy headwatering streams which support watershed function and water quality. Reclamation and restoration is dubious, expensive and poorly planned. How can restoring 480 million year-old geomorphology and the attending biologic, chemical and hydrologic functions and values be even possible? It's not.
https://thinkprogress.org/scientists-have-now-quantified-mountaintop-rem...
http://appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/
Acceleration of this industry poses significant and permanent deleterious impacts on fish and wildlife habitats, water resources and the climate (yes, Mr. Zinke, resources to be protected by the Interior, not destroyed).
Furthering coal extraction disconnects with global clean energy initiatives and our advances in environmental regulation over the past four decades. It shows a disdain of the successes of our former administration, and disgraces the heritage of our public lands.
Disconnect, disdain and disgrace that also ignores and hurts our children.
16
I see why you lost your funding. You premise that returning the land back EXACTLY to what it was before, is possible only in the mind of a fantasist. There is no reason to even want to restore it back to an exact replica of what it was.
Many times I have worked on energy projects and have restored the land back to a state that often exceeds the value of what it was before. Open your ind a bit, and get out of the Big Government social agenda routeine. It's quite liberating, you know.
Many times I have worked on energy projects and have restored the land back to a state that often exceeds the value of what it was before. Open your ind a bit, and get out of the Big Government social agenda routeine. It's quite liberating, you know.
4
Coal? 2 steps backward. Keep our Federal Lands clean. Just changed the house from oil to gas.
8
This has nothing to do with coal, as such.
"Coal" for Trump and his allies is just code -- code for those who got poorer during, and perhaps as a result of, globalization. Or, to put it more simply, it's code for Trump's base.
This is all politics. That said, for Trump politics trumps everything -- especially the politics of appearing to support his base.
He will not flinch from doing all that he can to look like he's pro-coal (whatever it costs the world, the US, or selected parts of the US).
"Coal" for Trump and his allies is just code -- code for those who got poorer during, and perhaps as a result of, globalization. Or, to put it more simply, it's code for Trump's base.
This is all politics. That said, for Trump politics trumps everything -- especially the politics of appearing to support his base.
He will not flinch from doing all that he can to look like he's pro-coal (whatever it costs the world, the US, or selected parts of the US).
9
Who are these so called: "White folks?" They are not the developers of great Art and culture from Europe. The great philosophers of the Enlightenment. We have some decent Architects but we tear them down and have no idea about heritage other than extreme conservative political and religious philosophy. "federalists" Meanwhile we turn God's country into the next West Virginia or Picher, Oklahoma.
The future world will believe us to be sniveling whining fools born into a paradise and incapable of keeping it and being happy without tearing it to pieces along with the plant and animal life in the country.
These folks aren't "White" they are a virus on the face of something that took 10-,000 years to develop and a couple of hundred to destroy.
Look at what the tar sands have done to Canada and we just had to have some of that toxicity for ourselves. Maybe we could hire Stephen Harper as well. He could mine Glacier National Park.
The future world will believe us to be sniveling whining fools born into a paradise and incapable of keeping it and being happy without tearing it to pieces along with the plant and animal life in the country.
These folks aren't "White" they are a virus on the face of something that took 10-,000 years to develop and a couple of hundred to destroy.
Look at what the tar sands have done to Canada and we just had to have some of that toxicity for ourselves. Maybe we could hire Stephen Harper as well. He could mine Glacier National Park.
6
Coal is an amazing resource, yes, but it shouldn't be pushed this hard, out of nowhere. This is the first time many people are hearing about this new policy and plan to get into the coal industry again. For the past many years America has been pushing reusable resources and environmentally friendly solutions. This act is going against all of those things. In my opinion, this shouldn't be allowed. Mining for coal is very dangerous and can bring out dangerous gasses from the earth's crust, further enhancing global warming. Global warming is one of the reasons why we wanted to find other methods of energy other than coal in the first place. I find it concerning that they plan to use public lands for mining for coal. As I stated its dangerous, and what are public lands? If they are parks and recreation centers in densely populated areas, this should be banned. The way this is described seems to be pushing for quick cash, not something worth fighting for when the world is struggling with all the pollution we are already pouring into the atmosphere. It is pure greed that drives Trump to want to destroy national monuments and historic wildlife areas to create profit. Maybe people are scared to call him out on it but he is killing this earth, all for some money. This is wrong and absurd that it makes any sense to him. He needs to fix his priorities or step down before some law gets passed that is irreversible and permanently stains the world we know today.
6
I don't think there's enough coal left to make anybody rich. For trump, he doesn't care about the money; he cares about power. And shouting out the code words he knows have a hypnotic and galvanizing effect on his supporters is nothing but self-serving manipulation of the most selfish variety - it is designed only to feed his sick ego and his endless hunger for power and adulation. The man is a monster.
9
This is what Trump was elected to do.
3
The stone age did not end because of lack of stones. It did end because the advent of metalworking, more efficient to make hunting weapons and agriculture and domestic implements.
The coal age will not end because the world is running out of coal. It will end because of available cost effective, energy sources and serious environmental concerns related to climate change.
On the coal question, President Trump is on the wrong side of history.
.
The coal age will not end because the world is running out of coal. It will end because of available cost effective, energy sources and serious environmental concerns related to climate change.
On the coal question, President Trump is on the wrong side of history.
.
27
Sjaco, you've offered another point that I don't understand. I assume, based on your other posts, that you are a conservative. If true, American conservatives trust World Bank data less than they trust Bernie Sanders. The endless one world government conspiracies that come from the right concerning the World Bank is astounding. Conservatives, onstensibly, will sacrifice coal before they'll liberty--in a New York second. Tongue in cheek.
That said, if the data are correct (which I think they probably are, I was just pointing out the irony), I don't understand the data relevant to Uzi. In the absolute sense, coal will die like all technologies where more efficient alternatives are developed. Coal is going away--not as quickly as Progressives would like but, once the tipping point with regard to return on investment in other energy sectors is reached, coal will die so quickly we won't be able to count the dead quickly enough. Conservative capital, government capital, coal company capital, tax loopholes, subsidized funding and pork spending will run from coal like rats from a sinking ship. That will happen in less than a decade. It won't happen before the next election and that is the overarching point of the article. Between then and now, how much environmental degradation is too much?
That said, if the data are correct (which I think they probably are, I was just pointing out the irony), I don't understand the data relevant to Uzi. In the absolute sense, coal will die like all technologies where more efficient alternatives are developed. Coal is going away--not as quickly as Progressives would like but, once the tipping point with regard to return on investment in other energy sectors is reached, coal will die so quickly we won't be able to count the dead quickly enough. Conservative capital, government capital, coal company capital, tax loopholes, subsidized funding and pork spending will run from coal like rats from a sinking ship. That will happen in less than a decade. It won't happen before the next election and that is the overarching point of the article. Between then and now, how much environmental degradation is too much?
9
The capital cost of decommissioning coal plants and commissioning gas plants or renewable options is misunderstood and grossly underestimated. Economies alone will get us there as practicalities of natural gas trump coal hands down yet due the before mentioned capital; governments need to step in to promote the change.
1
I guess Trump needs the coal--it's the only thing he will be getting in his Christmas stocking.
12
I would say the majority of us in the West opposed the degradation of federal lands by the extraction industries. Even Mike Lee and Jason Chafetz had to withdraw their bill to transfer federal lands in Utah due to virulent opposition in that very GOP dominated state. While Mr. Zinke is correct that our parks and other lands need billions in deferred maintenance, he clearly is too cozy with the mining industry. Rolling back lease rates is an egregious example. People in my state have blocked coal exporting terminals because we do not want to endanger our environment in order to sell coal to foreign nations. The West is unique in that states ceded these federal lands when granted statehood (no one "stole" these lands - people didn't want it). We are stewards of the most diverse and remarkable landscapes in the United States. Mr. Zinke clearly feels more obligated to assure the extraction industries have cheap access to our national treasures than protect and preserve these lands for future generations.
10
This backward thinking, set to benefit a handful of companies and individuals must stop!!!
Why throw out decades of investment for a few dollars...I mean really....
Why throw out decades of investment for a few dollars...I mean really....
4
Factually, almost one hundred million Americans and their businesses benefit directly from coal mining and the energy the industry provides. The other two hundred+ million also benefit indirectly by consuming the products made with coal energy.
2
I'm going to take your word as fact when it comes to the number of people benefiting. At what point--at what number--does the number of those negatively affected become relevant? Does that number need to smack us in the face? More to my point, within the metaphorical Venn diagram of the population to which you refer, how many are also negatively affected? You can't have a cancer without a body to host--and even a horribly degraded host can still host cancer. The healthier the cancer, the more deadly. Stage 4 cancers can go undetected until it is too late for the host to survive. Coal is cancer and, without doubt, it will die whether the government intervenes or not.
Benefit? Define benefit and commit to a number where a heavily subsidized investment, with no risk to the stock holders, finally reaches a point where it is an unambiguously bad policy--much less a market-driven vehicle. I never see conservatives commit to the portion of the balance sheet that clearly exists but to which concrete numbers can't be assigned. Cancer only becomes a liability on the balance sheet when you have to spend money to save the host's life-- and that's bi-partisan.
Benefit? Define benefit and commit to a number where a heavily subsidized investment, with no risk to the stock holders, finally reaches a point where it is an unambiguously bad policy--much less a market-driven vehicle. I never see conservatives commit to the portion of the balance sheet that clearly exists but to which concrete numbers can't be assigned. Cancer only becomes a liability on the balance sheet when you have to spend money to save the host's life-- and that's bi-partisan.
5
Coal is not cancer. It's carbon. If I play along with your metaphor, cancer is measurable and traceable with concrete quantification. So, really, your metaphor doesn't work.
The Trump Administration is not "business friendly". They seek to prop up outmoded and outdated industries at the expense of industries that could make America competitive in the future - backing losers and stifling winners. We'll all be buying energy resources from China when they beat us to the renewables market.
9
Big deal. What's Trump going to do to stimulate the coal industry -- outlaw natural gas production. And speaking of gas--
5
Open up lands for mining that will degrade habitat locally and 'downstream', the mining will be highly mechanized, the companies will pretend they are being environmentally responsible while lobbying to reduce the regulations and quietly breaking the ones that exist, and all for a product that mostly won't have much of a market now and which will continue to shrink. Why would anyone invest in such a situation? Even the non-Koch coal companies know better (Duke).
The only way a developed country maintains its more highly developed living conditions is to stay on the cutting edge. We got used to being top dog for 20 years after WWII, when the rest of the industrialized world was mostly recovering, without having to stay on the cutting edge (we had very old plant and equipment but no competition), and for 40 years, many have still not gotten it into their heads that we can't keep doing what we've done and not see the world pass us by. When politicians don't get this, or prey upon those who don't get it, they only reinforce this misunderstanding of why the situation has changed and make things worse. Every day we spend going in the wrong direction is a day lost when we could have gone in the right direction.
The only way a developed country maintains its more highly developed living conditions is to stay on the cutting edge. We got used to being top dog for 20 years after WWII, when the rest of the industrialized world was mostly recovering, without having to stay on the cutting edge (we had very old plant and equipment but no competition), and for 40 years, many have still not gotten it into their heads that we can't keep doing what we've done and not see the world pass us by. When politicians don't get this, or prey upon those who don't get it, they only reinforce this misunderstanding of why the situation has changed and make things worse. Every day we spend going in the wrong direction is a day lost when we could have gone in the right direction.
9
"We got used to being top dog..." Parts of the world had been devastated by two world wars. The bigger parts of the world had been exploited for generations by colonialism. So, we were top dog for a while.
Now, much of the rest of the world recovered from the wars - and some of the colonized areas are making significant progress from where they were forty or fifty years ago. The reality is, it's no use trying to figure out a way to stay "top dog". There isn't going to be any top dog. We aren't going to have better lives than they have in Europe and much of the rest of the world.
We are going to have to think in terms of preserving and using our resources so we can all live long and prosper, in a world where many people will be living just as long and prosperously.
They say a good worker puts himself out of business, and as the world's superpower, we see ourselves going out of business - and that's good.
Now, much of the rest of the world recovered from the wars - and some of the colonized areas are making significant progress from where they were forty or fifty years ago. The reality is, it's no use trying to figure out a way to stay "top dog". There isn't going to be any top dog. We aren't going to have better lives than they have in Europe and much of the rest of the world.
We are going to have to think in terms of preserving and using our resources so we can all live long and prosper, in a world where many people will be living just as long and prosperously.
They say a good worker puts himself out of business, and as the world's superpower, we see ourselves going out of business - and that's good.
1
This President is so clueless. He's living in the wrong century and is not able to see the forest for the trees, let alone the greater good for the money in his cronies' pockets. If he were truly a 'businessman,' he would have enough vision to know that he is allowing our competitors to forge ahead and create/dominate the market for alternative energy and the jobs that will come with them. Add to that his disregard for the planet and lack of interest in, or respect for nature and it really is a deplorable situation. The man never sets foot out of his concrete castle in NYC, unless it's to stand on a golf green. His idea of appreciating wildlife is applauding while his sons shoot wild animals. We, the taxpaying public, should have a say in what happens to 'public' lands. I don't want oil rigs or pipelines or fracking in wild places. Given that he's made a stink about every public effort that impacted 'line of sight' views from his properties, you'd think he'd get this. Forgot- if it doesn't impact him personally, it doesn't exist.
6
Business Friendly ... an odd way of saying GIVING our land to his friends..
6
Instead we should use OUR federal lands for solar and wind farms. More jobs and cheaper energy than dirty coal.
9
Where do you think solar PVCs and wind turbines come from? They don't grow from magic beans. They come from digging many, many gigantic holes in the ground up to several thousand feet deep and are produced with mega-size refineries and manufacturing plants. Until you are willing to accept and encourage this activity, you will never get to that utopian "alternative-renewable" energy future.
1
We'll get there. There are too many brilliant scientific minds working toward the alternatives. There is too much money to be made--just not between now and 2020. By comparison, coal innovation is almost nil. Innovations always crushes the status quo--even the U.S. government can't stop it. Te question is, will we develop the defining alternative energy solutions, and benefit from the wealth that they will create, or will we license them from China or Russia or Western Europe.
2
That's just not true, regarding coal innovation. Our universities have entire departments devoted to improving efficiencies in coal mining. Are you willing to do what is really required to replace coal with PVCs and wind turbines? If so, you have to be overtly pro-mining.
2
We can and should do both. Some areas are significant in some way and we should of course protect them. Others are not so significant and within normal pollution limits (no CO2) can and should be responsibly developed. How about we sell coal to China instead of North Korea? Anybody object to that?
2
coal mining is a dead industry, as is your thinking--about continuing to strip away the last of our resources for a toxic hole in the ground.
3
The extractive industries are ready and waiting to dig up all our fossil fuel in the next fifty years, or maybe a hundred. It never seems to occur to anybody that the people of the future might wish we had left a little for them. We picture them living a science fiction world where nobody will be interested in anything as old fashioned as coal or oil. Lumps of coal will be displayed in museums.
But we might consider that all the coal and oil and gas we leave in the ground isn't going to vanish - it will stay there, and who knows, maybe the people a thousand years down the road will thank us for leaving it for them. Maybe they will find some wonderful new use for it, or maybe a collapsed civilization will be glad of something to get them through some cold winters. Let's leave some for the future.
But we might consider that all the coal and oil and gas we leave in the ground isn't going to vanish - it will stay there, and who knows, maybe the people a thousand years down the road will thank us for leaving it for them. Maybe they will find some wonderful new use for it, or maybe a collapsed civilization will be glad of something to get them through some cold winters. Let's leave some for the future.
Make $$$$ from coal then retire to New Zealand while the USA dies off. That's the plan.
5
So, the American landscape gets desecrated digging up coal, which gets burned to the benefit of China, and the resulting CO2 wreaks havoc on global climate, including in the United States. What a deal! All this winning is truly exhausting.
It is further mind-boggling that an industry lobbyist compares themselves to the tobacco industry ***in their defense***!!!
It is further mind-boggling that an industry lobbyist compares themselves to the tobacco industry ***in their defense***!!!
4
Re: your headline about the West being "split" by this new intiatiative. Does the new Administration do anything else? They seem intent to pit Americans against one another and divide us on virtually every issue.
2
Coal mining as an occupation should become extinct, the same way that whale hunting should become extinct. It has no place in a modern society.
1
I'm not sure if this about coal mining as much as it is about the conservative desire to privatize everything including public land.
6
Say, what happened to that Gianforte guy, the billionaire Republican Congressman from Wyoming who took a swing at a reporter. Last I heard he was refusing to show up for his DNA test. What's he hiding?
3
Why don't we bring back the 'buggy whip' while were at it?
3
Excellent reporting. Thank you from all of us who care about this beautiful land and the health of its inhabitants. The following, excerpted from this story, is important--and horrifying.
"Mr. Reavey likened the industry’s existential crisis to that of tobacco companies in the 1990s. The coal industry, he told executives, had been targeted by a liberal conspiracy of environmental groups, news organizations and regulators. Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground."
"Mr. Reavey likened the industry’s existential crisis to that of tobacco companies in the 1990s. The coal industry, he told executives, had been targeted by a liberal conspiracy of environmental groups, news organizations and regulators. Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground."
3
Cigarettes cause cancer. Coal pollutes the air. The moguls of these industries don't care how many people die from their product. But we should.
2
reply to penny :
some articulate, knowledgeable scientist, well- versed in these issues needs to write and submit a " guest op- ed" to the NYT, responding to Mr. Reavey.
some articulate, knowledgeable scientist, well- versed in these issues needs to write and submit a " guest op- ed" to the NYT, responding to Mr. Reavey.
I am very opposed. Although I am an environmentalist, for me a MUCH bigger reason to leave natural resources in most US lands is so that in a war or true crisis it will be available.
2
Say, has anyone told the people of West Virginia that Trump is going to subsidize coal mining in the Mountain West with cheap federal leases and no environmental complainers? That their WV coal operations will now receive direct competition from Wyoming and Colorado et al, subsidized by Trump? That in order to enjoy the faux resurgence in coal, they'll have to move?
15
Isn't it strange that coal jobs are so sacred that we have to make sure they exist to keep coal mining families happy?
Never mind that every single song or poem involving coal is a tragedy or plaint.
Never mind that when it comes to other areas that are finding it difficult to keep or create jobs, the Golfer-in-Chief tells them to pack up and move to where unemployment is lower.
For example, he recently told upstate NYers not to worry about home values but just head to Wisconsin because of the Foxconn plant that might (or might not) open one day, even though Foxconn hasn't really decided if, when or where they will build it.
What's so precious about the history of black lung, tunnel collapses and acid rain that demands coal miners have an immovable legacy?
Never mind that every single song or poem involving coal is a tragedy or plaint.
Never mind that when it comes to other areas that are finding it difficult to keep or create jobs, the Golfer-in-Chief tells them to pack up and move to where unemployment is lower.
For example, he recently told upstate NYers not to worry about home values but just head to Wisconsin because of the Foxconn plant that might (or might not) open one day, even though Foxconn hasn't really decided if, when or where they will build it.
What's so precious about the history of black lung, tunnel collapses and acid rain that demands coal miners have an immovable legacy?
8
Is there no way the marketplace can provide checks and balances when regulatory efforts fail?
Why not just boycott business that the coal industry depends on?
Americans may have to do a lot of boycotting but it's so much faster than waiting for November. It's amazing how fast those creditors and accountants move when a business can't meet it's expenses at the end of the month! I think we're a spoiled nation if we overlook the power of the market.
Why not just boycott business that the coal industry depends on?
Americans may have to do a lot of boycotting but it's so much faster than waiting for November. It's amazing how fast those creditors and accountants move when a business can't meet it's expenses at the end of the month! I think we're a spoiled nation if we overlook the power of the market.
4
Great idea! Boycott the power companies that have coal generation as a resource. Tell me how that goes... Oh yeah you couldn't the computer you are using needs power.
Whoopie! Can't wait for the Trumpmobile - the coal powered car - while other countries outpace us with REAL advances in technology and clean energy. Then there is the Trump-o-jet: a coal powered airplane. Real forward looking.
9
You failed to mention the Trumpmobile, that beautiful, grand coal powered, by American coal, clean American coal, along with the Trump-o-jet will be the envy of the world, and the super clean American coal will be in such high demand that Trump will lay claim to helping a million miners going back to work.
1
Wait....how can "...the struggling American coal industry...more broadly exploit commercial opportunities on public lands"...without our permission?
Doesn't PUBLIC mean those lands belong to US?? This, Trump TV...when is this nightmare going to be put to death? We are being run by a dictatorship, not a president!
Doesn't PUBLIC mean those lands belong to US?? This, Trump TV...when is this nightmare going to be put to death? We are being run by a dictatorship, not a president!
3
That's right it belongs to US, that means people who believe it is right and proper to use the resources on those lands.
So, we should allow the mineral extraction industry to destroy much of our treasured lands for a mineral that appears to have a weakened demand? Where should we let the carnage begin and end?
1
@Dan
We have been mining coal for a very long time. If the mine owners are not artificially driven to bankruptcy when the coal pans out the mines can be reclaimed - don't even notice a mine was there after a few years.
On the other hand the solar solution takes much more land than the coal mines and the coal powered plants combined - orders of magnitude if solar is to replace coal. You forget about those "treasured lands", or maybe it just didn't occur to you?
We have been mining coal for a very long time. If the mine owners are not artificially driven to bankruptcy when the coal pans out the mines can be reclaimed - don't even notice a mine was there after a few years.
On the other hand the solar solution takes much more land than the coal mines and the coal powered plants combined - orders of magnitude if solar is to replace coal. You forget about those "treasured lands", or maybe it just didn't occur to you?
1
How sad that the Crow Nation would enter into this agreement for a mere $10 million. It shows how desperate their community is for investment. I hope it helps them: $10 million isn't what it used to be!
How about asking Warren Buffet or Bill Gates to just pay off these desperate communities? It doesn't sound like the going price is very high. If Mr. Gates took 1% of his net worth ($89B), he could personally prevent Big Coal from getting its hands on 89 similar sites. No, this isn't high-minded environmentalism, but it just might get the job done.
How about asking Warren Buffet or Bill Gates to just pay off these desperate communities? It doesn't sound like the going price is very high. If Mr. Gates took 1% of his net worth ($89B), he could personally prevent Big Coal from getting its hands on 89 similar sites. No, this isn't high-minded environmentalism, but it just might get the job done.
5
2
Yep, that graph represents the economic violence that Obama and "progressives" inflicted on around 42000 families directly, and probably an equivalent amount indirectly.
2
Sjaco, I don't understand your point. Governments make these decisions all the time. More to the point, such decisions are exactly what governments do. It manifests in tax loopholes, sweetheart deals, budget allocations, pork spending, etc. That money could provide the same kind of preferential treatment to industries that don't devastate the same way coal does. If you are a conservative, you're actually advocating more government intervention and less effective government spending. Just about every aspect of the situation described flies in the face of the market dynamics conservative embrace--rhetorically. If an industry--and 42000 families--can't survive economically without degrading public lands, how viable is the industry? Perhaps more importantly, if the number of families affected is the measure of performance/value, consider the number of families affected by the environmental damage done by burning coal, the generational downstream degradation of watershed, etc. If you are a conservative and your family is one of those affected, you are faced with the kind of tough decisions that every family faces in an environment where worker pay has declined since Reagan deregulated many industries. Since then, Republicans have held the White House for 20 of 37 years. Your frustration is multi-administration--not Obama. He was just cleaning up the mess left over by generations of the dirtiest, least efficient, most cloistered, abjectly dangerous industries in American history.
3
Obama cleaned nothing by picking and choosing who will be anointed and given subsidies. Many of those companies he gave $$$ to never created a kWh during their existence.
Natural Gas production proliferated DESPITE Obama's best efforts to quash its growth. At the same time the EPA played the role of The Dept of Energy, crushing most coal companies through punitive taxes and penalties.
Natural Gas production proliferated DESPITE Obama's best efforts to quash its growth. At the same time the EPA played the role of The Dept of Energy, crushing most coal companies through punitive taxes and penalties.
1
Heartbreaking to think public lands will be wide open to corporate rape just so the rich can get richer. Nothing is sacred and everything is for sale.
5
These awful people could not betray our country more thoroughly if they intended to.
Oh, wait...
Oh, wait...
4
We have NO need for coal in the 21st century. You have to be brainless to think it's a good idea to mine for coal on federal lands. While we're at it, let's reintroduce asbestos to the construction industry.
4
Well, this is the 21st century, and more than a third of or electric power comes from coal. That part of the demand equation can't be soaked up by another source, so I'm afraid your premise is false.
3
Bel, we have NO need for coal in the 21st century. Nuclear power is safer and way more efficient. Natural gas is the reason coal is declining out of existence, and NG is just as plentiful as coal, burns cleaner and produces jobs. Prove me wrong?? Lol
2
Nat Gas is an important part of our country's energy supply and it is abundant, for now. You're correct it burns clean too, and is the primary reason the USA is the only country in the world that reduced its carbon output while maintaining a growing GDP.
Hydraulic Fracturing creates wells that have short life spans, for both oil and gas.
Coal however, is by far the most abundant source of energy in this country, and the world.
Still, this country can't replace coal now with natural gas or oil to meet demand. Solar & wind have no chance of doing this in the near future.
Hydraulic Fracturing creates wells that have short life spans, for both oil and gas.
Coal however, is by far the most abundant source of energy in this country, and the world.
Still, this country can't replace coal now with natural gas or oil to meet demand. Solar & wind have no chance of doing this in the near future.
2
There is a quick and easy answer to this. Build a nuclear reactor in the backyard of Mr. Zinke, sink a deep injection well at Mar-A-Lago and vent the exhaust of the drill rigs into the Oval Office of the White House.
5
Trump voters care about jobs we're told.
So besides the environmental destruction, how many jobs are we talking about anyway? The Trump administration doesn't really care about jobs. They care about billionaire owners who will keep their coffers filled.
So besides the environmental destruction, how many jobs are we talking about anyway? The Trump administration doesn't really care about jobs. They care about billionaire owners who will keep their coffers filled.
2
Hieroglyphics, the steam engine, 8-track tapes and the landline telephone, along with Norma Desmond, are all ready for their return. Trump's yearning for a time warp back to the 1950's of his childhood is just pathetic.
2
Many years ago President Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. This designation stopped any coal mining within the monument much to the consternation of the Utah pro-coal politicians (which most of the Republicans support).
However, over the years the existing coal operations have been scaling back as demand becomes less, yet, the politicians, still pouting over the monument designation, has been lobbying the Trump "administration" to scale back the size of Grand Staircase and Bear's Ears Monuments in order to drill and mine these treasures.
Is coal, well Trump stated we have "clean coal", that important to the economy given the demand is down and renewables are taking further hold.
However, over the years the existing coal operations have been scaling back as demand becomes less, yet, the politicians, still pouting over the monument designation, has been lobbying the Trump "administration" to scale back the size of Grand Staircase and Bear's Ears Monuments in order to drill and mine these treasures.
Is coal, well Trump stated we have "clean coal", that important to the economy given the demand is down and renewables are taking further hold.
We were there this spring at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
The views were beautiful and breath-taking. I can't imagine seeing the place all dirtied up with coal mining. It's a devil's bargain to ruin the region for just a few jobs. I don't think this administration really cares about jobs. This is just another case of privatization of public lands for profit for the crony capitalists. When the pollution piles up, they will stick the taxpayers with the bill.
The views were beautiful and breath-taking. I can't imagine seeing the place all dirtied up with coal mining. It's a devil's bargain to ruin the region for just a few jobs. I don't think this administration really cares about jobs. This is just another case of privatization of public lands for profit for the crony capitalists. When the pollution piles up, they will stick the taxpayers with the bill.
2
This is great news. It's time to put a stop to the obstructionist, counter-productive antics of the hyperventilating, E-Mentalist movement. The solution is "all of the above", not cherry-picked, feel-good, PC, 5% solutions.
4
That wacky Trump! What'll he think of next? Stay tuned for another hilarious episode of "That's Our President"!
Trump's base is all he's got. Not big, it is nonetheless wildly supportive of him and his administration. He loses it's support at his peril.
A big part of his base in the fossil fuel industry, and, in particular, coal. It's almost possible to say that as goes coal, so goes him.
Coal is on the ropes for many reasons. This mean Trump must appear (at least) to be pulling out all the stops to breathe new life into it. (And, as we all know, for Trump appearances count for everything.) )
He'll stop at nothing.
Nothing is more important to Trump than his own political survival. For him, everything else is dispensable (in a heartbeat).
A big part of his base in the fossil fuel industry, and, in particular, coal. It's almost possible to say that as goes coal, so goes him.
Coal is on the ropes for many reasons. This mean Trump must appear (at least) to be pulling out all the stops to breathe new life into it. (And, as we all know, for Trump appearances count for everything.) )
He'll stop at nothing.
Nothing is more important to Trump than his own political survival. For him, everything else is dispensable (in a heartbeat).
2
Does anyone else find it beyond ironic that Richard Reavey, Cloud Peak Energy's top lobbyist, mournfully compares the coal industry's predicament to that of tobacco companies in the 1990s? He sees both as having "been targeted by a liberal conspiracy of environmental groups, news organizations and regulators. Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground."
Who, besides tobacco companies, isn't delighted at the shrinking of the tobacco industry? Who doesn't see the parallels with coal: a dirty, stinky, disease-causing substance whose ill effects the producers will sell their souls to hide?
Who, besides tobacco companies, isn't delighted at the shrinking of the tobacco industry? Who doesn't see the parallels with coal: a dirty, stinky, disease-causing substance whose ill effects the producers will sell their souls to hide?
8
Perhaps those who claim that coal is dead should educate themselves. Try here:
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.COAL.ZS
Interesting graph.
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.COAL.ZS
Interesting graph.
2
Yes, and the graph shows world source of electricity from coal levels off after 2008. Some countries are starting to find a better way.
China still uses a lot of coal. Bejing's air is filthy from coal. Now just imagine that kind of air in your own town or state.
Natural gas is cleaner and cheaper. Solar power and wind power are increasingly used. Coal is so 19th century.
China still uses a lot of coal. Bejing's air is filthy from coal. Now just imagine that kind of air in your own town or state.
Natural gas is cleaner and cheaper. Solar power and wind power are increasingly used. Coal is so 19th century.
2
@ juanita,
Leveling off not declining, we'll see where it goes from here. But the point is there is still a demand for the coal the miners produce.
Leveling off not declining, we'll see where it goes from here. But the point is there is still a demand for the coal the miners produce.
sjaco-What is your point?Are you arguing in favor of coal mining on public lands or just pointing out a statistic that the use of coal isn't "dead"? (Interesting choice of words,because if we continue to use coal as a fuel to generate power for another generation, it will describe the fate of a lot more of us than would be the case if we used a cleaner source of power.) Also, that "demand for the coal the miners produce" will be largely foreign (China,etc) ,but than who care what happens to foreigners-Right? Same thing happened to the tobacco industry that the stupid coal lobbyist lamented was killed(that word again) by liberals, environmentalists,regulators etc; we simply exported the cancer to foreign countries so the profits could continue.
This blight on the U.S. known as Trump—yes, he is a blight, just like a natural devastation or disaster—
Will pass.
But we must mobilize with emergency response units, to minimize the damage. Like a dustbowl or a drought or a hurricane, this is a trump.
Will pass.
But we must mobilize with emergency response units, to minimize the damage. Like a dustbowl or a drought or a hurricane, this is a trump.
3
"Wealth and jobs"? It's wealth for the mine owners or operators, and very few--and very risky--jobs for those seeking them.
It's little wonder that the Japanese used American POWs to work their mines, and the Germans used concentration-camp labor to do this during World War II.
It's little wonder that the Japanese used American POWs to work their mines, and the Germans used concentration-camp labor to do this during World War II.
2
A foolish nod to coal workers (whom Trump promised the moon when he thought he wouldn't get elected anyway, but whom he now wants to appease because he desperately needs to hold onto all parts of his base) and a dying legacy industry.
Instead, Trump should push through a bill to fund free training for those people in the latest renewable energy technologies and jobs - if he really feels the need to do something for them that is worth a damn. Why allow them to hang onto jobs that will fade soon enough by market forces alone? He is just allowing those folks to avoid climbing out of that hole (literally) a while longer.
But no, we will continue to let China and others eat US lunch in this exploding market and stagnate with coal, which is not only becoming yesterday's energy dinosaur but also harms the environment as well. It's a form of welfare, in a way, and actually does those coal workers a disservice in the long run. While Trump is "fueling" a mini-resurgence in coal, he should also be providing a path to the 21st century for those folks. Now, that would be making America great again.
Instead, Trump should push through a bill to fund free training for those people in the latest renewable energy technologies and jobs - if he really feels the need to do something for them that is worth a damn. Why allow them to hang onto jobs that will fade soon enough by market forces alone? He is just allowing those folks to avoid climbing out of that hole (literally) a while longer.
But no, we will continue to let China and others eat US lunch in this exploding market and stagnate with coal, which is not only becoming yesterday's energy dinosaur but also harms the environment as well. It's a form of welfare, in a way, and actually does those coal workers a disservice in the long run. While Trump is "fueling" a mini-resurgence in coal, he should also be providing a path to the 21st century for those folks. Now, that would be making America great again.
4
Here you go:
"Coal Ash is More Radioactive Than Nuclear Waste"
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-...
Not to mention mercury and other pollutants from the process. The new mountaintop and other labor-saving (job killing) technologies create more waste and the new deregulatory fervor means the waste is more likely to destroy entire watersheds.
"Coal Ash is More Radioactive Than Nuclear Waste"
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-...
Not to mention mercury and other pollutants from the process. The new mountaintop and other labor-saving (job killing) technologies create more waste and the new deregulatory fervor means the waste is more likely to destroy entire watersheds.
8
One of Obama's mistakes was not dealing with the environment sooner in his presidency. Perhaps then there would be less inertia at this time to pursue these regressive policies.
4
The current administration has proven itself the best friend of the environment raping sector of the energy industry. Instead of creating jobs in clean renewable sources of energy it is content to prop up industry that does two fold damage to the environment as a result of extraction processes and then again when it is burned!
8
What a stunning statement of avarice: coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes unless the industry stood its ground! I cannot think of a worse example than comparing one's industry to tobacco. I suppose you could argue that both will kill people by the millions if left to their own devices. Both spend large sums denying the negative scientific findings, whether it be second-hand smoke or climate change. Both care only about short-term financial gains.
Clearly, Trump and his appointees see the planet as nothing more than a resource of profit for themselves, and the greater good be damned.
If I were the Democrats, I'd make it clear that all the rollbacks in environmental protections will be reinstated as soon as possible when the tide of public opinion puts them back in power. Maybe that will make the land rapers think twice about making a large investment in new coal mines.
Clearly, Trump and his appointees see the planet as nothing more than a resource of profit for themselves, and the greater good be damned.
If I were the Democrats, I'd make it clear that all the rollbacks in environmental protections will be reinstated as soon as possible when the tide of public opinion puts them back in power. Maybe that will make the land rapers think twice about making a large investment in new coal mines.
15
Yes, it's an eye opener that they want to bring back tobacco (fact!).
3
Not really that surprising. Republicans don't give a hoot about people's healthcare or, for that matter, health. They have made that abundantly clear in the past year.
1
Invisible hand be damned, say republicans, let's bring back a teeny tiny sliver of jobs that destroy the environment and aren't even a rounding error in our GDP instead of "allowing the market to work." Tourism will be the prosperous future of the region if they don't create a dystopian hellscape out of the beautiful, pristine mountain areas that are still left. These are some of the worst jobs in the country showcasing unhealthy, unsafe working conditions mingled with the environmental havoc played by mountaintop removal followed by wholesale dumping of the waste into our streams.
8
Once again the US will trail Europe, Japan and Korea. While they produce more alternate fuel and Electric automobiles, we will still be producing Dodge Demons, and Chevy Suburbans with gas sucking V8's.
8
In order to appease the core voters who lost coal jobs and in order to gratify industry giants, this administration is ready to allow our land, air and water quality to go to hell. What will you do when you can't breathe or drink the water? Go live on the moon?!?!?
It takes more work and more cerebral matter than the administration possesses, but the future is NOT coal mining but renewable sources of energy.
It takes more work and more cerebral matter than the administration possesses, but the future is NOT coal mining but renewable sources of energy.
9
Now on to reviving the whaling industry!
You know how hard it is to find a good whale bone corset these days?
You know how hard it is to find a good whale bone corset these days?
9
After every atrocity that Trump has dumped on America - now this? Revive Big Coal ??? Even a moron knows that burning Coal adds enormously to Global Warming. Adding insult to injury, Trump, Zinke & Pruitt feel fine about doing their mining give-away on Public Lands.
It is hard to fathom how far Trump has gone to destroy our Nation's credibility, and our Nation's Landscape. With goons like Pruitt and Zinke running around, destroying ANY Environmental protections in place, our Grandchildren will most certainly live on a ruined planet Earth.
I am heartened by the public outrage over this action. The solidarity and courage shown at Standing Rock Reservation gives me hope that most people know that clean water is far more important than drilling Oil, or mining Coal. The pollution from those Industries ruins groundwater forever. Water is Life. Without it, we are dead.
How can a man like Zinke, a Navy Seal, an "outdoorsman", feel that its okay to ruin what President Teddy Roosevelt saw as vital to public health, environmental awareness, and pride in the beauty of our Nation?
Answer: Greed.
It is hard to fathom how far Trump has gone to destroy our Nation's credibility, and our Nation's Landscape. With goons like Pruitt and Zinke running around, destroying ANY Environmental protections in place, our Grandchildren will most certainly live on a ruined planet Earth.
I am heartened by the public outrage over this action. The solidarity and courage shown at Standing Rock Reservation gives me hope that most people know that clean water is far more important than drilling Oil, or mining Coal. The pollution from those Industries ruins groundwater forever. Water is Life. Without it, we are dead.
How can a man like Zinke, a Navy Seal, an "outdoorsman", feel that its okay to ruin what President Teddy Roosevelt saw as vital to public health, environmental awareness, and pride in the beauty of our Nation?
Answer: Greed.
9
Mercury in our food supply is overlooked as a terrible pollutant from coal. I prefer eating fish to red meat, and have to be cautious about mercury content. I rarely eat tuna anymore as it has high mercury content.
"Coal plants are responsible for more than half of the U.S. human-caused emissions of mercury, a toxic heavy metal that causes brain damage and heart problems. Just 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury deposited on a 25-acre lake can make the fish unsafe to eat. A typical uncontrolled coal plant emits approximately 170 pounds of mercury each year."
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/coal-and-other-fossil-fuels/coal-air-...
"Coal plants are responsible for more than half of the U.S. human-caused emissions of mercury, a toxic heavy metal that causes brain damage and heart problems. Just 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury deposited on a 25-acre lake can make the fish unsafe to eat. A typical uncontrolled coal plant emits approximately 170 pounds of mercury each year."
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/coal-and-other-fossil-fuels/coal-air-...
7
Anyone who supports the burning of coal should be arrested for crimes against mother nature, and indicted for helping to murder the planet humans inhabit.
Are we that freaking greedy?
Are we that freaking greedy?
6
It's no surprise that Republicans would rather destroy and foul our unique and priceless natural resources than pass up an opportunity to make a buck. Look at Trump. He'd rather hole up inside that ridiculous apartment in Trump Tower than appreciate our natural wonders and breathe fresh air. There is no forgiveness for Republicans destroying what cannot be replaced to satisfy their bottomless greed.
8
Let's mine and extract on all of Trump's properties; and heck, why not, his cohorts, too, for that matter. Enough is enough. Forgot our publicly- owned lands; we've already excessively "Given at the office." What fun! Let's make a deal! Start with Key Largo, then Doral and so on. Not only will we extract all types of "crude" riches; we may indeed find some of those dang varmint swamp creatures. And, maybe, when we're done, our deficit will be modestly reduced and he'll be using the Camp David regularly rather than enjoying his golf game and properties on our dime.
4
John Oliver did a superb job of investigating the coal barons and their hypocritical behavior. They are not interested in their employees, as is revealed by their continuing rejection of anything that would make coal safer for workers and for communities around them. The privatization of profit and socialization of risk is their only goal.
The yukkity yukking between Trump and his coal buddies has to be seen to be believed. Those guys don't care about you, about us. They care about their kleptocracy, their billions. They're laughing all the way to the bank as they take away safety, health care, pensions, clean water and air, and poison whole watersheds.
Have a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw6RsUhw1Q8 (Of course there is a lawsuit: liars don't like being ridiculed. Trump is good at lies and intimidation too.
There simply is no such thing as clean coal. It's been tried, and the practical truth is it is both too expensive and too difficult, and takes too much energy.
What is the matter with people that they don't want clean renewable energy? It's here. It, conservation, storage and delivery, are the best jobs program ever.
Making America Last? I don't think that's a good idea!
The yukkity yukking between Trump and his coal buddies has to be seen to be believed. Those guys don't care about you, about us. They care about their kleptocracy, their billions. They're laughing all the way to the bank as they take away safety, health care, pensions, clean water and air, and poison whole watersheds.
Have a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw6RsUhw1Q8 (Of course there is a lawsuit: liars don't like being ridiculed. Trump is good at lies and intimidation too.
There simply is no such thing as clean coal. It's been tried, and the practical truth is it is both too expensive and too difficult, and takes too much energy.
What is the matter with people that they don't want clean renewable energy? It's here. It, conservation, storage and delivery, are the best jobs program ever.
Making America Last? I don't think that's a good idea!
5
One of my favorite parts was when John showed solar panels being installed on the Museum of Coal (in Kentucky as I recall). I'd laugh if it wasn't so damn serious.
2
What a concept, keeping a dead industry alive that not only sickens the workers, pollutes the air, poisons the water, contributes to climate change that threatens the planet, and turns our public lands into dumps.
Why doesn't Trump also bring back the horse and buggy so we can give people jobs picking up horse manure in the streets hat can be dumped on to his golf courses (which would actually be preferable to the coal mines).
Why doesn't Trump also bring back the horse and buggy so we can give people jobs picking up horse manure in the streets hat can be dumped on to his golf courses (which would actually be preferable to the coal mines).
7
Look folks... the Keystone Pipeline isnt finished due to a lack of users and Coal in America is decreasing each year. Is the GOP really going to stop the march of renewables? No --- it gets cheaper and cheaper to make solar panels each year and they are getting more and more efficient.
It's just too expensive to mine coal and it has little to do with federal regulations. Short term? It's dirty and expensive. Long term? Coal gets phased out. But heck it's a great whipping boy politically.
It's just too expensive to mine coal and it has little to do with federal regulations. Short term? It's dirty and expensive. Long term? Coal gets phased out. But heck it's a great whipping boy politically.
2
Zinke is far from a "Roosevelt Republican". For someone who is a native Montanan it is hearbreaking to see what is happening. Seems to me Zinke was all about public lands until someone handed him a big bag of money to make sure that Montanans livelihood is killed off.
4
Solar and wind don't work on a mass scale.
Maybe for homes and small farms, but that is it.
Wind and solar? After 20 years of taxpayer subsidies, they can contribute no more than 2 percent to our power grid. To add insult to injury, a foreign-owned solar company near Pittsburgh is declaring bankruptcy and laid off 60 workers after pocketing nearly $20 million in federal stimulus and state assistance.
Maybe for homes and small farms, but that is it.
Wind and solar? After 20 years of taxpayer subsidies, they can contribute no more than 2 percent to our power grid. To add insult to injury, a foreign-owned solar company near Pittsburgh is declaring bankruptcy and laid off 60 workers after pocketing nearly $20 million in federal stimulus and state assistance.
5
These so-called "facts" are out of date. Meanwhile, what about the trillions of subsidies to big fossil. Earnings on those: over 100:1. Nice work if you can get it. "The scourge of crony capitalism has been revealed ... to blog out the sun":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwrNmRK_I0A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwrNmRK_I0A
4
Good for President Trump. This will help inject more money into regions of the country that need it, people that can't afford a $4 latte at Starbuck's or surf on their iPad because they can't afford one. To those that don't like it: go buy that $4 latte in midtown and surf on your iPad while you sip it down.
4
I don't need or want fancy stuff, Aleister, but I do treasure our public lands. I'm out hiking at least once a week, and spend money in towns nearby. My sister and her family just got back from cross-country road trip to Montana. A fly fisherman I know spends 3 months in the Montana wilderness every year. A number of my naturalist friends are out west somewhere right now......birders, botanists, nature photographers. None of them would go west if it's a depressing, ugly, wrecked landscape with polluted rivers. It's foolish to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Why ruin nature and tourism when you can have clean, renewable energy AND pristine public lands for generations to come?
1
Sounds good. I think I will, meanwhile I will do everything in my power to conserve energy and lessen my dependence on coal.
Before people get their "panties in a bunch" by reading this article, which tilts heavily toward "bad coal vs. good rancher, good Cheyenne Indian, let me explain some facts:
1. The mines have zero discharge of any coal or overburden spoils into the Tongue River.
2. Coal seams outcrop naturally in the perimeter of the reservoir (where is the outcry for this naturally polluting sedimentary rock).
3. The mines around the Tongue River have won major awards for reclamation, and in most instances improve the land for wildlife, vegetation, air and water quality from pre-mining conditions,
4. The rancher and his cattle grazing does more harm to the Tongue River watershed than the heavily regulated mines ever would.
5. The Northern Cheyenne are also major generators of water/land pollution.
6. It is all a money grab. The non-producers want something from the producers.
Alpha Dog
Retired Engineer who helped build, operate and manage the mines around the Tongue River Reservoir in the early 1980's and resided in Sheridan, Wyoming at that time.
1. The mines have zero discharge of any coal or overburden spoils into the Tongue River.
2. Coal seams outcrop naturally in the perimeter of the reservoir (where is the outcry for this naturally polluting sedimentary rock).
3. The mines around the Tongue River have won major awards for reclamation, and in most instances improve the land for wildlife, vegetation, air and water quality from pre-mining conditions,
4. The rancher and his cattle grazing does more harm to the Tongue River watershed than the heavily regulated mines ever would.
5. The Northern Cheyenne are also major generators of water/land pollution.
6. It is all a money grab. The non-producers want something from the producers.
Alpha Dog
Retired Engineer who helped build, operate and manage the mines around the Tongue River Reservoir in the early 1980's and resided in Sheridan, Wyoming at that time.
4
These guys will never listen to reason, it's all emotion for them. For example we could give them facts like the fact that to replace coal generation plants with solar require covering more area with solar panels than is used for both mining of the coal and area used to build generation plants. A whole lot more area.
3
A nuclear powered electrical generation plant would take up much less area than solar, wind, and coal generation plants do. So where do you stand on burying all the nuclear waste under some mountain in Nevada? Reason seems to dictate that's where it should go.
Next Trump and his anti-environmental administration might be inclined to confiscate Monument Valley from the Navajo Nation to mine for precious metals or minerals. Of course, Native Americans, the true inhabitants of the lower 48, not the white man, are accustomed to whitey stealing their land as evidenced by the hundreds and hundreds of treaties broken by our government and enforced by our military. Hat tip to Dee Brown for his 1970’s great, groundbreaking book. I've read the book twice and it still infuriates me how we treated Native Americans then and even today.
Look at what’s currently happening at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the Dakota’s. Another frontal attack by the Trump administration.
Today our government, with encouragement from the military-industrial-complex, comes up with reasons or causes to invade foreign countries because we can. Since the end of WWII, the U.S. probably has invaded more foreign countries and overthrown more governments than all of the other countries combined.
Yes, America is exceptional…at creating chaos domestically and internationally.
Look at what’s currently happening at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the Dakota’s. Another frontal attack by the Trump administration.
Today our government, with encouragement from the military-industrial-complex, comes up with reasons or causes to invade foreign countries because we can. Since the end of WWII, the U.S. probably has invaded more foreign countries and overthrown more governments than all of the other countries combined.
Yes, America is exceptional…at creating chaos domestically and internationally.
2
As I type this on my Coal Fired Laptop. Can't wait for the return of the Railroad Steam Engine and the Conestoga Wagon.
1
You are pretty accurate. 1/3 of US electricity is generated by coal. The trendy electric cars are actually coal powered cars.
3
From the second part of your comment I assume you were being sarcastic about your 'coal fired' laptop.
Unfortunately, Mike, in Wheaton your electricity does indeed come from primarily coal & some natty gas.
Maybe you drive a coal fired Tesla or Chevy Volt too, and you just don't know it!
Good luck!
Unfortunately, Mike, in Wheaton your electricity does indeed come from primarily coal & some natty gas.
Maybe you drive a coal fired Tesla or Chevy Volt too, and you just don't know it!
Good luck!
2
Willy36 -
It's closer to 39% nationally than 33.33. But your main point is totally correct.
The only reason coal usage dipped below a long time 47-48% is because of cheap, abundant natural gas.
It's closer to 39% nationally than 33.33. But your main point is totally correct.
The only reason coal usage dipped below a long time 47-48% is because of cheap, abundant natural gas.
1
E-xporting carbon is exporting our future. adn giving tht future to someone else. ---- Just as permitting a mining company foreighn to mine and export valuable metal, and in the process destorying salmon rivers. -
i found a type, please fix it to "the horrible zinke".
Sure enough.
And all the republican insiders from the pres (cause he's at the bottom) on up are fixed to cash in on the specific info they need from their representatives in Washington.
This is what is wrong with the government.
And all the republican insiders from the pres (cause he's at the bottom) on up are fixed to cash in on the specific info they need from their representatives in Washington.
This is what is wrong with the government.
1
The Trump administration's continued pandering to special-interest groups should not amaze me but I confess it still does. Coal is obsolete technology that will continue to pollute all aspects of the lives of our children and grandchildren. Thinking to "Atlas Shrugged," what is next: the removal of all NYC bridge river crossings and tunnels and the reinstatement of barges and ferrymen to convey travelers across our rivers because who wants to put the ferrymen out of business, as bridges and tunnels did, because their 0.06% of the votership represents a key constituency whose fandom of "The Apprentice" and unwavering support of Fox "News" resulted in the election of Mr. Trump? I should not feel surprised nor outraged, but this appointment is truly reprehensible. But hey -- elect a clown? Expect a circus. Mr. Trump and his offspring and myriad ex-wives will never know from poverty, or need, so why should the future well-being of America register on his radar?
1
"Mr. Reavey likened the industry’s existential crisis to that of tobacco companies in the 1990s...Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground."
From your mouth to God's ear.
From your mouth to God's ear.
Oh, great. Because there aren't enough working stiffs with black lung already?
3
So shortsighted and self serving of Mr. Zinke and team. Their actions will cause so much harm for future generations. May their karma be swift.
2
A Great Leap Backwards for the US of A. Only hurting its own future, while the rest of the world move on and beyond.
2
Here's a triple whammy. Increase pollution, contribute to global warming, giving away hard fought for, (see Theodore Rosevelt) public lands all with one sign of the pen. What effrontery- what Trumpery.
3
A giant fusion reactor rises in the east every day bathing the earth with enough free energy in one day to run the entire industrialised world for a year. All you need is the collection system to gather it. It's like free money on the ground but we are to dumb to buy a bag to stuff it in.
You have to strip mine all of the cobalt, nickel, cadmium etc to make the batteries to store solar energy pal.
The bag you stuff it in is mined out of the earth. Wake up!
The bag you stuff it in is mined out of the earth. Wake up!
. . . and Panderfest '17 continues.
We give away our future so a few unskilled coal miners can keep their jobs a bit longer and a reality tv president can finally keep a promise? "There behind the glass stands a real blade of grass, be careful as you pass, move along, move along".
6
All this administration cares about is big business and money. There are heinous things happening and we're being distracted daily by the biggest con artist the World has ever known.
Please make haste, Mr. Mueller.
Please make haste, Mr. Mueller.
2
The photo of Zinke practically slobbering over an oil company CEO said it all. This is one of Cult 45's greatest offenses - the privatization of public land for dying, dirty industries like coal. It's not going to benefit the public, that much is certain.
3
What about the stagecoach services? Or the gas home lighting business? I mean, if Trump wants to save obsolete industries, at least he ought to rescue those that do not pollute the enviroment!
2
Coal lobbyist: "Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground."
As well it should.
Leave it in the ground, and keep the water safe. We can't drink coal, and we can't irrigate with it.
As well it should.
Leave it in the ground, and keep the water safe. We can't drink coal, and we can't irrigate with it.
1
This article dares touch upon the war that the Obama administration conducted against fossil fuels and, indirectly, the U.S. middle class - to my surprise.
It shows that just electing this American President has changed a world of things in our employment and investment scene, producing the amazing changes in the stock market JUST since he was elected.
People throughout the country have been polled and report that they are much more confident about their futures, and this includes the progressive areas. Thus, black unemployment is the lowest it has been this century, simply because owners and operators of businesses are confident that we are in a growth economy.
It is a shame that so much of the media is campaigning against the President and these workers, but truth is getting out and people know to avoid the progressive press and the CNNs.
The coal will be burned to create energy. The only question is whether the development and use of it happens under clean environmental standards or not.
It shows that just electing this American President has changed a world of things in our employment and investment scene, producing the amazing changes in the stock market JUST since he was elected.
People throughout the country have been polled and report that they are much more confident about their futures, and this includes the progressive areas. Thus, black unemployment is the lowest it has been this century, simply because owners and operators of businesses are confident that we are in a growth economy.
It is a shame that so much of the media is campaigning against the President and these workers, but truth is getting out and people know to avoid the progressive press and the CNNs.
The coal will be burned to create energy. The only question is whether the development and use of it happens under clean environmental standards or not.
1
Just one inconvenient fact against your wholly inaccurate screed here: the US has an energy glut at the moment. Another: more coal mining is not going to help the middle class one whit.
1
I can't believe the coal workers want to go back into the mines.......black lung, short life? Why not learn a new craft around renewable energy? Help the planet, help your family, make something good....not just a profit for the mine-owners.
1
The West should never be split on the prosperity of its people.
And Trump's coal policy promises greater wealth and economic security for all.
And Trump's coal policy promises greater wealth and economic security for all.
1
I love coal fired powerplants. They run steady day and night, very inexpensive fuel, keeps my electric bill down but most of all No blackouts dependable constant never ending electric production and we have 400 years of coal capacity.
Manmade global and otherwise warming is a hoax.
Build more coal plants please CA I want cheaper electricity
Manmade global and otherwise warming is a hoax.
Build more coal plants please CA I want cheaper electricity
1
Denial aint just a river in Egypt, reality is going to break in to you sooner rather than later.
1
The irony of Trump's support for coal is that it's socialism. When did conservatives begin propping up failing industries? If coal can only survive by handing private industry free public land - it deserves to fail. Trump's policies amount to welfare pure and simple.
3
The whole planet knows that coal mining is a dead end job. Furthermore it is one of the most polluting sources of energy. It's very frustrating that Trump wants to create more jobs in coal industry just to please these people. I always believe in greater good. It is obvious that coal has no future, damages the environment, and our health. It's a common sense that when something is obsolete, you must move on. You don't just sit there on a sinking ship and complain that you're in a distress. Just get off that ship!
26
reply to goahead :
right on ! whomever has been left behind in the coal mines needs to jump off that
sinking ship . watching " a night to remember" may, just may drive home the idea
of re- training, getting more/ different education, get into a more current industry, change a field of interest, etc, etc - whining isn't the answer.
right on ! whomever has been left behind in the coal mines needs to jump off that
sinking ship . watching " a night to remember" may, just may drive home the idea
of re- training, getting more/ different education, get into a more current industry, change a field of interest, etc, etc - whining isn't the answer.
This can't be true, the coal industry will never return; Maxine waters said so just last week.
1
So, what are they going to do with all that coal they dig up? They're not going to be able to sell it, coal is currently the most expensive energy source.
Maybe the administration means to buy the stuff up from the coal companies and dump it in the ocean just to keep a few coal miners working.
Maybe the administration means to buy the stuff up from the coal companies and dump it in the ocean just to keep a few coal miners working.
1
How do you figure coal is the most expensive energy source?
Where do you get your nformation?
Where do you get your nformation?
1
Who's going to buy a coal-burning furnace...you?
Someone clue me in. Just what is this going to do for the folks in West Virginia?
When I was a child coal mining was considered the worst job possible. Why is it now the job the president and his team (minions?) are lauding?
1
Hopefully will will drain the real current swamp before the damage the country beyond repair.
1
As China continues to invest in more and more solar, we have a person in the White House who is stuck in the Precambrian strata and memories of meeting John D. Rockefeller, Jr. with his dad.
2
He's got to follow through for the coal people. When they find out he couldn't care less about them, other working people will start to get it, too.
Not saying they won't still vote for him. Because if he makes it to the next election, he will be running against somebody who's been beat mostly to death with his and Fox's lies.
We have got to find a way to get him out NOW.
Not saying they won't still vote for him. Because if he makes it to the next election, he will be running against somebody who's been beat mostly to death with his and Fox's lies.
We have got to find a way to get him out NOW.
1
Reviving the coal industry? Who wants coal? The problem isn't supply, it's demand. The utilities are converting to natural gas which is cleaner and cheaper. Anybody hear of fracking? After destroying the land, they'll probably dump the coal into the rivers and streams or put it back into the ground and mine it again.
1
Trump did this so the "pseudo" democrat governor of W. Va. would turn Republican, no other reason. Trump can espouse all he wants about opening up public lands to coal mining, yet, when the rest of the industrialized world, even China, has been gradually weaning themselves off coal for several years now, who is going to use it? There are no buyers! This is just another Trump scam to provide a few temporary extra jobs for some desperate, naive people who probably already have the beginnings of black lung disease.
Then there is Trumps healthcare plan which I am sure is going to take care of all these workers when they can no longer work in the mines. Yeah, right!
Then there is Trumps healthcare plan which I am sure is going to take care of all these workers when they can no longer work in the mines. Yeah, right!
1
We could send coal to North Korea!
Let them burn coal & let us be a
Net exporter of fumy bitumin!
North Koreans won't think it inhuman.
They want more coal in NoKo! NoJoKo ~MDM
Let them burn coal & let us be a
Net exporter of fumy bitumin!
North Koreans won't think it inhuman.
They want more coal in NoKo! NoJoKo ~MDM
1
Butcher our federal lands to sustain a dying industry long enough to wring out the last drop of profit in the guise of bringing back jobs:
What happens when you elect the Creature From the Black Lagoon to drain the swamp.
What happens when you elect the Creature From the Black Lagoon to drain the swamp.
2
Muddle minded ignorant Trump and his hand picked sycophants are working to destroy one of our greatest assets, our land. Undoing our progress toward being better stewards of what's left of our precious wilderness is criminal.
2
"Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground." -Mr. Reavy, Cloud Peak Energy (~ midway through article)
Wow....kind of ironic, since now there is general consensus that cigarettes kill.
Wow....kind of ironic, since now there is general consensus that cigarettes kill.
2
Shame they can't dig under his golf courses. I just know there's got to be coal or oil down there!
Opening up low cost reserves or resources out west will just bring more cheap coal to market. A new source of cheap production will put pressure on all producers to lower prices. The result will be a squeeze on the higher cost producers, most of whom are located in the east, for example in West Virginia.
As these eastern mines are forced out of business by new supplies coming on stream no doubt we will hear more calls for subsidies for eastern coal production so that we can maintain the jobs Trump's programs are destroying.
This is just a more blatant version of saying "drill baby drill" while promising to bring back coal. Every gas well drilled is just another step in the demise of coal. Absent government interference, people usually prefer the cheaper and more convenient (not to mention cleaner) choice--in other words, natural gas over coal; western coal over eastern coal....(and soon, renewables over either if current market trends continue unabated).
As these eastern mines are forced out of business by new supplies coming on stream no doubt we will hear more calls for subsidies for eastern coal production so that we can maintain the jobs Trump's programs are destroying.
This is just a more blatant version of saying "drill baby drill" while promising to bring back coal. Every gas well drilled is just another step in the demise of coal. Absent government interference, people usually prefer the cheaper and more convenient (not to mention cleaner) choice--in other words, natural gas over coal; western coal over eastern coal....(and soon, renewables over either if current market trends continue unabated).
Do you actually read your own headlines before you put them on the website? ("As Coal Makes a Comeback Under Trump, ...") What comeback? There was a deadcat bounce of coal production from record lows last year -- although the bounce actually happened in the third and fourth quarters of last year when somebody else was President -- and coal production across the nation is declining again this year, with minimal job creation in those few places where jobs have been added. According to S&P Market Intelligence from July 21: "Many of the largest U.S. coal mines continued to throttle down production in the second quarter of 2017 following a brief production surge that began in the last half of 2016. Coal production is down 11.7 million tons, or 6.3%, in the second quarter compared to the prior quarter among producers who reported data that has been published by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration so far. The declines were seen across most major basins, though the hardest-hit region by volume — at 7.5 million tons — was the Powder River Basin. Producers reporting from Central Appalachia so far produced about 232,537 tons more coal than in the prior quarter."
1
The so-called president can do any of the following to revive coal.
1. Stop natural gas drilling and supply, now.
2. Stop automation and strip mining, force all mines to dig for extraction.
3. Start burning coal in the WH, especially in the bedroom he sleeps in.
1. Stop natural gas drilling and supply, now.
2. Stop automation and strip mining, force all mines to dig for extraction.
3. Start burning coal in the WH, especially in the bedroom he sleeps in.
2
I recommend having big green groups like NRDC, EDF, Sierra Club, etc move headquarters from NYC and bay area to Butte, Montana. Instead of hiring fellows and experts from Ivy League and equivelent for fundraising dog and pony shows, hire chiefly from Montana School of Mines (MSM might have change its name to something sounding more techy). And since they're there, clean up the old Anaconda mine and smelter superfund site. For instance, instead of EDF doing third way policy to bridge industry and environmentalism using trickle down environmentalism, it could just hire backhoe, scraper and dump truck operators to fill in that enormous open pit that's been left open. After finishing Butte clean up, EDF with other green groups can move onto Powder River basin and work on mined land restoration. It's not like we're getting anywhere with environmental policy experts from big green in the age of Trump.
1
To Create Wealth and Jobs and POLLUTION. In 1958 I was a flight attendant who had a conversation with a passenger who turned out to be the former governor of WV. He pointed out to me the mess WV has become because of coal mining. He explained how it is polluting the air and ground, killing thousands of workers and their families and was not necessary. I was enlightened and happy when the coal industry shrank so much. The Trumper came along and is doing his best to destroy civilization as fast as possible.
I know he can't really believe his denial so I wonder what does he think will happen to his grandchildren when they can't breathe anymore. I know he doesn't care about regular people but is very attached to his family but evidently grand and great grand children are not included.
I know he can't really believe his denial so I wonder what does he think will happen to his grandchildren when they can't breathe anymore. I know he doesn't care about regular people but is very attached to his family but evidently grand and great grand children are not included.
1
While the rest of the world moves forward developing alternative energy, the US is moving backwards towards old technology. Trump will only harm the competitive edge of this country by propping up the coal and oil industries while obstructing alternative energy.
26
Incorrect http://www.powerengineeringint.com/coal-fired/coal-fired-new-projects.html 1600 is the number of new coal plants that I have seen, probably not all will be completed.
6% of global GDP is spent on just one item: subsidizing fossil fuel.
(google: "fossil fuel subsidies are a staggering $5 tn per year")
This is just more evidence of that. As India and England make it impossible to purchase anything but an electric vehicle by 2030, as China spends $0.5 trillion to 'go renewables', as these commitments come forth all over the World, the U.S. looks backward toward selling off public property for private gain (i.e. the Koch Brothers), something that annually kills over a million people a year, from emphysema and other deaths, and is the reason you should limit your intake of certain ocean fish, over mercury levels.
Its over, Coal. You may have bought this government, but you're losing the War, worldwide.
(google: "fossil fuel subsidies are a staggering $5 tn per year")
This is just more evidence of that. As India and England make it impossible to purchase anything but an electric vehicle by 2030, as China spends $0.5 trillion to 'go renewables', as these commitments come forth all over the World, the U.S. looks backward toward selling off public property for private gain (i.e. the Koch Brothers), something that annually kills over a million people a year, from emphysema and other deaths, and is the reason you should limit your intake of certain ocean fish, over mercury levels.
Its over, Coal. You may have bought this government, but you're losing the War, worldwide.
1
Trump is a backward-looking leader who claimed he’s a pragmatic deal-maker.
Nothing could be further from the truth! By promoting a dying poluting coal industry instead of the forward looking clean-energy technology tells us he is not pragmatic. Trying to repeal ObamaCare without a good replacement plan tells us he is no smart deal-maker.
By pulling out of TPP and Paris Climate Agreement unilaterally, appointing a climate skeptic to head the EPA, and slashing funding for science, technology R&D funding; Trump is gambling away our nation’s future.
Sadly old habbit dies hard, we are talking about someone who was in the casino business for years.
Instead of leading the country he’s doing all these to satisfy his base.
Nothing could be further from the truth! By promoting a dying poluting coal industry instead of the forward looking clean-energy technology tells us he is not pragmatic. Trying to repeal ObamaCare without a good replacement plan tells us he is no smart deal-maker.
By pulling out of TPP and Paris Climate Agreement unilaterally, appointing a climate skeptic to head the EPA, and slashing funding for science, technology R&D funding; Trump is gambling away our nation’s future.
Sadly old habbit dies hard, we are talking about someone who was in the casino business for years.
Instead of leading the country he’s doing all these to satisfy his base.
Public lands should be managed for the benefit of ALL Americans, not just the exploitive industries. These industries and their paid government lackeys in Congress and the Interior Dept. argue that extracting these commodities DOES benefit all Americans, but of course it benefits the owners and shareholders to a far greater degree. And when balanced against the irreplaceable value of these national treasures, whatever "public benefit" these industries provide, it pales in comparison.
Moreover, allowing these industries to profit at the public expense reduces our tax revenues and increases the deficit - two things that the fiscal "conservatives" never mention,
Finally, and perhaps worst of all, propping these industries up with false economies based upon cheap leases/sales, skews the cost-benefits compared to renewable energy development which will be mush more cost-effective and environmentally safer in the long run.
Of course all of this is common sense, which means it's beyond the capacity for the close-minded ideologues now running our country to fathom.
Moreover, allowing these industries to profit at the public expense reduces our tax revenues and increases the deficit - two things that the fiscal "conservatives" never mention,
Finally, and perhaps worst of all, propping these industries up with false economies based upon cheap leases/sales, skews the cost-benefits compared to renewable energy development which will be mush more cost-effective and environmentally safer in the long run.
Of course all of this is common sense, which means it's beyond the capacity for the close-minded ideologues now running our country to fathom.
1
If the U.S. is going to allow mining to take place, it ought to hold a big chunk of money, much like landlords hold out from renters, so that if the company doesn't leave the land in a pristine condition (and they never do), they don't get that money back. But it should be enough down payment to really hurt them if they don't clean up. Too often, it's the taxpayers who have to clean up the mess the mining companies leave.
1
Thank you Pres. Trump and gang.
The world is on fire this summer....real suffering is taking place due to the volatility caused by climate change and you thumb your noses at anyone other than yourselves. You're playing a very dangerous game. Enjoy your air conditioned offices and homes where you scheme in an effort to push your sick agenda.
The world is on fire this summer....real suffering is taking place due to the volatility caused by climate change and you thumb your noses at anyone other than yourselves. You're playing a very dangerous game. Enjoy your air conditioned offices and homes where you scheme in an effort to push your sick agenda.
1
"The Obama administration, he said, had become intent on killing the coal industry, and had used federal lands as a cudgel to restrict exports."
As a lame-duck president, Obama abused his power in many ways. President Trump was elected to return, to the people, what Obama took away. And none to soon!
As a lame-duck president, Obama abused his power in many ways. President Trump was elected to return, to the people, what Obama took away. And none to soon!
2
This won't add many jobs to the coal industry. Out West, the Coal Companies use open pits and gigantic equipment to mine and haul the coal. If all the out of work coal miners go west, only about 1 in 1000 will actually get a job. OTOH, generations to come will pay billions to clean up the environmental damage. All so that a few mega coal companies can make enormous profits shilling coal to Asia.
2
Different kinds of coal for different uses are mined in different areas.
Try learning about minerals and the energy sector before making absurd statements.
Try learning about minerals and the energy sector before making absurd statements.
The powder river basin supplies public utilities with around 20% of the energy used to supply electricity in the U.S. The point is, this issue of subsidies hits many Americans right in the pocketbook. This is good old fashioned lining up at the feeding trough hoping for a big helping before the lid closes.
1
Let's be fair and applaud some coal industry honesty. It's admirable that Richard Reavey, chief lobbyist of Cloud Peak Energy has equated the coal industry to cigarette companies. This shows some deep self knowledge on his part. As americans lets celebrate this honesty and do everything we can as responsible world citizens and patriots to move this country to all forms of renewable energy.
3
Clean coal is an oxymoron, ever been to Beijing?
5
Wealth and jobs, huh? Creating wealth is NOT what people elected Trump to do. Or at least very few people voted for him so that he could make multi- millionaires into billionaires. This is NOT what the voters asked of Trump. So, donald, no need to create "wealth". Good to create "jobs".
1
Great! Donald Trump's idea of an environmental or nature walk is from his golf cart to the ball, hitting it and getting back on the golf cart and repeating this exercise for 18 holes, then into the club house.
Trump has qualms or shame regarding what damage strip mining or any kind of mining will do to public lands that are now being used by a large population in this country.
I know some people don't want to hear it, and think of the west or mining as it were 100 years ago, Coal Mining is a dying industry and it's never going to be the job saver it is being touted to be by Trump or his supporters.
Trump has qualms or shame regarding what damage strip mining or any kind of mining will do to public lands that are now being used by a large population in this country.
I know some people don't want to hear it, and think of the west or mining as it were 100 years ago, Coal Mining is a dying industry and it's never going to be the job saver it is being touted to be by Trump or his supporters.
5
So disturbing. So appalling. I worry about the future of this planet. There are so many options like sun and solar. I do not get this.
3
Future generations want a healthy planet. Liberals have it right
Future generations want to not have trillions of debt owing to liberal policies that refuse to consider the long term threat to future generations as we spend wildly. Liberals have it wrong.
I wish both sides who are so concerned with the future would consider both sides of this equation when talking about our kids' futures.
Future generations want to not have trillions of debt owing to liberal policies that refuse to consider the long term threat to future generations as we spend wildly. Liberals have it wrong.
I wish both sides who are so concerned with the future would consider both sides of this equation when talking about our kids' futures.
1
A select few (those with the most lobbying clout) profit off of our lands. Yes, I am angry.
3
Great reporting, thank you!
1
There are a lot of comments here about how coal is dead.
You do know we can export it to China and India and lots and lots of other places.
We don't even have to use any coal in the U.S. to mine if profitably and keep miners employed.
The only problem is progressives don't like it because --- well because
You do know we can export it to China and India and lots and lots of other places.
We don't even have to use any coal in the U.S. to mine if profitably and keep miners employed.
The only problem is progressives don't like it because --- well because
2
China and India, as well as many others, are actively changing over from coal to solar and other energy sources. China swiftly, as the pollution has been so awful as to begin to cause political unrest, which they wish to avoid. Some good articles on China, India energy policy in The Economist if you care to know the details.
It's a little premature to announce that coal is making a comeback. It's a dead end, literally.
1
Ny Times says this reverses obama era initiatives meant to acknowledge climate change.
While technically true, the " temporary ban" Trump is reversing was done on Dec 29, 2016. Anyone following the politics of the Obama post election Presidency would easily see most of these 11th hour initiatives were done expressly to achieve what the Times is happy to help with.
All were for optics and the understanding trump would have 2 choices: reverse them which leads to this article or not reverse them and the Times would go with plan B- not fulfilling campaign promises.
I wish we would have objective journalism. For 8 years I heard from bully pulpit how Fox News was fake news. Now that's it's ny Times and CNN it's become a threat to Constitution. Spin is awesome if you control the message.
While technically true, the " temporary ban" Trump is reversing was done on Dec 29, 2016. Anyone following the politics of the Obama post election Presidency would easily see most of these 11th hour initiatives were done expressly to achieve what the Times is happy to help with.
All were for optics and the understanding trump would have 2 choices: reverse them which leads to this article or not reverse them and the Times would go with plan B- not fulfilling campaign promises.
I wish we would have objective journalism. For 8 years I heard from bully pulpit how Fox News was fake news. Now that's it's ny Times and CNN it's become a threat to Constitution. Spin is awesome if you control the message.
2
Bottom line....Our planet is in a lot of trouble ,,in fact we have a crisis land challenge as never before and the most powerful leader in the world is making it worse. Much worse.
1
Gee, I thought the fake news said he wasn't able to keep this promise?
2
When corporate friends say "jump" ill-educated, money hungry, environmentally bankrupt administration of Trump says, " what do we care, our children's' children will have to deal with the mess." We won't be living with the toxic waste. " waste of money, environment, lives. What is the future with coal?
The ignorance of the posters here is staggering.
When their energy bills triple and brownouts are the norm, they will still be lacking in any comprehension of the cause and effect.
When their energy bills triple and brownouts are the norm, they will still be lacking in any comprehension of the cause and effect.
3
Issues that cause higher energy bills and brownout: aging grid, use of polluting resources as opposed to implementing advance renewable technologies (the further development of which would provide us with globally competitive jobs).
I'd be happy to pay triple my energy bill if it meant getting rid of the destructive, antiquated method of generation. Not everything about saving money, no matter the cost.
The ignorance in this comment board is breathtaking.
Comments are about turning back the clock and heating homes with coal. This is ignorance.
Fossil fuels provide almost 70% of our electricity -- coal is 30% of that. It's the reason Americans have such cheap electricity in their homes.
Try living in Europe with their windmills... the price of electricity for turning on your lights and washing your clothes is something that would shock most Americans.
Comments are about turning back the clock and heating homes with coal. This is ignorance.
Fossil fuels provide almost 70% of our electricity -- coal is 30% of that. It's the reason Americans have such cheap electricity in their homes.
Try living in Europe with their windmills... the price of electricity for turning on your lights and washing your clothes is something that would shock most Americans.
2
It is a shame that such a relative handful of Americans must be catered to in this appalling way. It is a shame that there can't be a better way for them to make a living. Of course if an alternative were presented, many of them would refuse to accept it. It's almost like some people WANT to destroy the Creation.
Fossil fossil fuel subsidies are equal to 6.4% GDP worldwide. We are paying them to destroy all that we hold dear.
1
That's a pretty gentle headline! Coal barons Get a Sweetheart Deal on the Backs of US Taxpayers. Let's not be coy about what's going on here.
1
Make America 1920 again!
The Trump administration and the entire Republican base should take a good look at how China is polluting their air by using coal for energy. It is not "CLEAN coal" as Trump gleefully promote it to be and using it will decimate the environment and the people who lives near the plants.
1
And China moving away as fast as it can from coal due to unrest caused by the horrific pollution. China too is closing coal companies and rapidly increasing use of solar, wind and spending lots of dollars, resources on renewables research.
The reactionary nature of the Right has become dangerous to our national and economic interests. From "drill baby drill" to "dig baby dig," this is not future-looking thinking. This is in fact pure reaction against it. Why do Republicans hate the future so much?
We toy with this stuff at our national peril. Soon enough, other countries will simply start filling in our vacuum, and the US will become an old, and former, global and economic power.
Maybe someone should whisper in trump's ear that kerosene lamps are the next big thing. Just be sure to mention that liberals and Obama hates kerosene lamps. That seems to be the extent of how deeply this deranged narcissist thinks.
We toy with this stuff at our national peril. Soon enough, other countries will simply start filling in our vacuum, and the US will become an old, and former, global and economic power.
Maybe someone should whisper in trump's ear that kerosene lamps are the next big thing. Just be sure to mention that liberals and Obama hates kerosene lamps. That seems to be the extent of how deeply this deranged narcissist thinks.
Where are the Koch brothers in all of this? I guess this is a dream come true for them and other robber barons. A few people getting wealthy from a dying industry at the expense of everyone else.
Create wealth for coal companies from selling public land for chump change.
What a disaster.
The man baby keeps filling the swamp with special interests.
What a disaster.
The man baby keeps filling the swamp with special interests.
1
Looser regulations. Now they just need to find someone to buy all that extra coal. Even China is pivoting away from coal.
Wonderful news for unemployed West Virginian coal miners! They can move to Montana for new jobs mining coal on Federal Lands. Trade the Appalachian forests for the broad plains of Montana and Winter blizzards. A side benefit is the expansion of the coal miner families' gene pool.
I live in Miami, FL.
If we as citizens do not demand from our elected officials to do as to curtail coal burning and other disastrous effects on our environment, I will be writing my views from somewhere in the mountains because at this rate I and my neighbors will be underwater.
If we as citizens do not demand from our elected officials to do as to curtail coal burning and other disastrous effects on our environment, I will be writing my views from somewhere in the mountains because at this rate I and my neighbors will be underwater.
10
The average structure lasts 40 years.
You and your neighbors have plenty to time to join your coal country neighbors in Appalachia.
You and your neighbors have plenty to time to join your coal country neighbors in Appalachia.
You expect to be alive in 150 years? ! ? ! ? That's how long it will take according to the most frightening scenarios and projections
And that assumes the reports are right from some of the same people who said we all would have died in 2000 A.D. Or earlier.
OBTW, Al Gore's recent film came in behind fourteen others at the cinemas this weekend. But his air conditioning is working great!
And that assumes the reports are right from some of the same people who said we all would have died in 2000 A.D. Or earlier.
OBTW, Al Gore's recent film came in behind fourteen others at the cinemas this weekend. But his air conditioning is working great!
1
I have to wonder if the NYTimes is more interested in making Donald Trump look bad and pin all evils on him or in honest reporting.
While this article's text does the former, the US coal production chart clearly shows coal production starting to increase in the first half of 2016. I am sure that the current administration's policies will accelerate production - however, it was increasing before The Donald even won the election, much less took office, installed his cabinet, and started rolling back regulations.
The times is either turning a blind eye towards some inconvenient data or is guilty of bad reporting.
While this article's text does the former, the US coal production chart clearly shows coal production starting to increase in the first half of 2016. I am sure that the current administration's policies will accelerate production - however, it was increasing before The Donald even won the election, much less took office, installed his cabinet, and started rolling back regulations.
The times is either turning a blind eye towards some inconvenient data or is guilty of bad reporting.
8
The only coal production that is increasing is metallurgical coal production for making steel, which is being shipped to China. Rolling back environmental protection is bad and dangerous, by the way, and that is why not only the Times, but all the legitimate media, are reporting it. The inconvenient data is that climate science is factual and climate science denial is fossil fuel industry paid propaganda. The other inconvenient data is that Trump has done nothing to increase jobs, only to damage the environment.
Rather than posting accusations, if one were to perform a simple google search one would find the reason for the increase in coal production prior to trump: The rise is due more to the recent spike in coal prices from 2005 to 2011, and the steady decline of productivity and the counter-cyclical nature of the energy industry during recessions. Now that trump is willing to sacrifice natural habitat, clean water and air for the sake of profiteering coal companies, hey...the skies the limit. Dig and destroy!
Of course it's increasing - it's called deregulation. Trump is handing out free land to coal mines and letting these companies pollute all they want. That's not success. This is welfare under a different guise - a conservative would let a failing business fail - not prop it up with government handouts.
The same dumb complacency as has been exhibited by lumber industry in the Pacific Northwest, continue down a road that leads nowhere until the end. The profit from razing old growth forests which would be gone in a couple of decades was enough to keep loggers and mills steadfast against preserving the old growth forests, even though they could not be replaced, just because they were unprepared to find sustainable alternatives. Same with coal mining, better to stick with the course that goes nowhere than make the effort to take another path that really has a future that is likely to be where all must head, inevitably. Life is finite and in some people's minds that means worrying about the future is futile, so enjoy the present and let people who live in the future deal with the problems.
6
Strange.
Lowes and Home Depot have plenty of lumber.
Lowes and Home Depot have plenty of lumber.
Yes, lumber need not be harvested from old growth forests.
It's come to the point hen Trump appears to be deliberately undoing himself and the country.
This is incredible. Those same lands could harness wind and sun; but no, Trump wants coal.
This is incredible. Those same lands could harness wind and sun; but no, Trump wants coal.
8
After more than 20 years of government subsidies wind and solar make up less than 3 percent of energy output.
Wind and solar don't work on a mass scale.
Wind and solar don't work on a mass scale.
1
Fossil fuel industries receive over $40 BILLION a year in government subsidies or did you even know that? I could sell my products pretty cheap too if the taxpyer was picking up a good chunk of the tab.
There are business friendly policies and business protection policies. Policies which facilitate business practices which serves the interests of society is a good thing. Policies which facilitate business practices which benefit some but which create serious problems for society immediately or in the long run are not good. Unfortunately, coal mining works against the interests of society in several ways. First, coal is a very dirty fuel because it produces a lot of carbon gases and soot which alters our environment to poor results. Second, to make it affordable as an energy source the practice is to allow extremely dangerous and harmful conditions to persist where the mining is done by poorly paid workers underground or where it is done by big machines the environment is destroyed and water ways down stream are polluted with hazardous wastes. The owners and operators of coal mining operations tend to be people who have no problem with killing people and destroying the biosphere without a thought. That Trump supports this kind of situation is not surprise, he has no conscience and neither have the politicians who continue to support this kind of egregiously destructive behaviors.
6
Perfidious activity on the part of the administration. The coal is not for domestic use, but for export. The back story is that Japan is planning to build and is building 3000 coal burning power plants for export to nations that are low on power. The coal will come from the US. Among the unsolved problems are port facilities to facilitate shipping. There is only one in the US. Guess who gets to pay for several more- and receiving facilities on the other end in all probability. World carbon emissions are estimated to grow by over 40%. Good bye climate change abatement.
3
This will only benefit the coal energy companies and perhaps create a only few hundred jobs nationally. The offset is devastation to the immediate and surrounding environment for many future generations.
9
The anti-energy scheme we lived under for eight years cost us tens of millions of jobs. America suffers when we average GDP growth of 1.3% annually.
Sorry, but I believe in poor workers actually finding work.
Sorry, but I believe in poor workers actually finding work.
1
When the trend is away from fossil fuels with nations abandoning the internal combustion engine and clean limitless fuel can be garnered from solar and wind Donald J. Trump want the U.S. to be the smoke shrouded midlands of 19th Century Britain.
5
We lie to preserve an image of ourselves…Trump is stuck at 2 to three years old and even his limited ability to speak tells you this.
There appears to be a link between a child's cognitive abilities and their ability to lie successfully. Along with executive functioning, children need to be capable of inhibitory control, i.e., the ability to suppress a response while completing a separate goal. A good working memory is also needed since children need to be capable of retaining details about the lie and the truth. Research looking at lying in young children suggests that inhibitory control is especially important since children with poor control are not effective liars while working memory may not be as useful.
According to a developmental model of lying first proposed by Victoria Talwar and Kang Lee, children around the age of two to three years begin by telling primary lies which are designed to conceal transgressions but fail to take the mental state of the listener into consideration. Around the age of four, children learn to tell secondary lies which are more plausible and geared to the listener's mental development. By age seven or eight, children learn to tell tertiary lies which are more consistent with known facts and follow-up statements.
Narcissistic personality disorder is created in child before a child turns three. This is why narcissists are difficult to treat in later adult life, and why some adults act like children emotionally. [PsychToday]
There appears to be a link between a child's cognitive abilities and their ability to lie successfully. Along with executive functioning, children need to be capable of inhibitory control, i.e., the ability to suppress a response while completing a separate goal. A good working memory is also needed since children need to be capable of retaining details about the lie and the truth. Research looking at lying in young children suggests that inhibitory control is especially important since children with poor control are not effective liars while working memory may not be as useful.
According to a developmental model of lying first proposed by Victoria Talwar and Kang Lee, children around the age of two to three years begin by telling primary lies which are designed to conceal transgressions but fail to take the mental state of the listener into consideration. Around the age of four, children learn to tell secondary lies which are more plausible and geared to the listener's mental development. By age seven or eight, children learn to tell tertiary lies which are more consistent with known facts and follow-up statements.
Narcissistic personality disorder is created in child before a child turns three. This is why narcissists are difficult to treat in later adult life, and why some adults act like children emotionally. [PsychToday]
4
Aren't most of the out of work coal miners in Appalachia? Why do we need to threaten precious western water supplies in cattle country when there is plenty of coal and skilled labor in WV, PA, KY and OH?
2
I don't want coal mining in my backyard, either. The industry here went almost totally belly up years ago, and just recently a mine near me just re-opened. I don't want to see the natural beauty of Pennsylvania destroyed, or to have our air and water filled with poison. Coal is a scourge on the nation at this point, and the few jobs it may offer do not off-set the damage it does.
What does Trump care about the effects of mining fossil fuels and pollution? he won't be around to see the destruction.
We should be using the billions he's enabling the mining companies to make by researching new sources of fuel. But his tiny archaic view of the world that will never happen.
We should be using the billions he's enabling the mining companies to make by researching new sources of fuel. But his tiny archaic view of the world that will never happen.
2
The question which the large energy corporations need to ask is:
What will happen after Trump?
Mining needs a large front end investment and a long contract time to enable them to break even.
Allowing 2 years for establishing a working mine, they will be left with 1.5 years of profit making until the next election and a possible roll back decision by the next president.
If they also consider the possible fallout of the Russia investigation with in-depth look at the president's finances, this time scale may be even shorter.
What will happen after Trump?
Mining needs a large front end investment and a long contract time to enable them to break even.
Allowing 2 years for establishing a working mine, they will be left with 1.5 years of profit making until the next election and a possible roll back decision by the next president.
If they also consider the possible fallout of the Russia investigation with in-depth look at the president's finances, this time scale may be even shorter.
2
Who though it would be good to elect a CEO President again?
1
Coal mining is destructive, dirty and expensive. Coal companies don't hire people to mine coal, they remove the entire top of a mountain and strip out the coal with machines. Mr. Trump lied to a lot of people and they believed it.
The head of Cloud Peak Energy says the Obama administration colluded with environmentalists to drive his company out of the export business. Mr. Obama did not stand in the way of fracking, and so now natural gas costs $1.75 per gallon of gas equivalent, whereas coal represents between $6-7 per gallon of gas equivalent to burn. If you were running a power utility, which would you choose?
Coal Companies are the modern day equivalent of the ACME Buggy Whip Company. Progress, Capitalism, all the things they seem to extol the virtues of and represent, have now driven them out of business.
South Africa to this day makes almost all of their transportation fuel, a sulfur-free diesel, by gasifying coal at the source and using Fischer-Tropsch chemistry (the water gas shift reaction) to turn it into a useful liquid fuel. That is the ONLY useful purpose for coal at this point, and necessary for them because they have no petroleum reserves but plenty of coal. We don't need coal. Let's move on.
The head of Cloud Peak Energy says the Obama administration colluded with environmentalists to drive his company out of the export business. Mr. Obama did not stand in the way of fracking, and so now natural gas costs $1.75 per gallon of gas equivalent, whereas coal represents between $6-7 per gallon of gas equivalent to burn. If you were running a power utility, which would you choose?
Coal Companies are the modern day equivalent of the ACME Buggy Whip Company. Progress, Capitalism, all the things they seem to extol the virtues of and represent, have now driven them out of business.
South Africa to this day makes almost all of their transportation fuel, a sulfur-free diesel, by gasifying coal at the source and using Fischer-Tropsch chemistry (the water gas shift reaction) to turn it into a useful liquid fuel. That is the ONLY useful purpose for coal at this point, and necessary for them because they have no petroleum reserves but plenty of coal. We don't need coal. Let's move on.
3
Put all into saving what is left and revive what is on death bed. Applicable to living species and not dying professions. Let us make the right decisions and save what will save us all - planet earth.
China and India are going to substitute alternative sources of fuel for their economies and if the U.S. does not continue to develop better alternative energy systems it is going to end up replacing it's coal fueled energy systems with alternative systems purchased from makers in China and India. Trump and the climate deniers are so prideful and ignorant that they are going to impoverish this country by their efforts to make it prosperous with obsolete energy systems.
2
I don't see how this will help the unemployed coal miners, who voted for Trump, in West Virginia.
3
This may be another illustration of Rick Perry's contention that supply creates demand. Or, in his words, a simple economics lesson. Jeesh.
No one wants to use coal. Even the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum is solar powered now. The ONLY people who want more coal dug is the extractive industries so they can sell it to China.
No one wants to use coal. Even the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum is solar powered now. The ONLY people who want more coal dug is the extractive industries so they can sell it to China.
1
Since when did Environmentalists and Conservationists become the enemy? Certainly some in this administration would have you think so. Keep in mind the aforementioned are not the extractors of anything nor do we profit. We simply wish to see our Public Lands remain unspoiled - and unpolluted. "Clean coal" is a sound bite, nothing more. Anyone buying into this ill-conceived plan won't even be fortunate enough to collect their 30 pieces of silver.
2
This article is an example of humanity's insane disconnect from the consequences of its actions that is leading us towards mass suicide. The world has been sternly warned by a very wide consensus of scientists to leave remaining fossil fuels in the ground or life on the planet will end. The planet has already had millions of human deaths that can be attributed to climate change, through severe weather. The Syrian war is said to have its basis in climate change. I recently read that scientists expect that soon human will start dropping dead from heat exhaustion in Africa. And yet one of the country's most major newspapers casually spins this decision without significantly discussing the CONSEQUENCES of continuing to mine and burn coal. Why didn't the authors invite Professors James Hansen or Michael Mann to comment in this article? It isn't enough just to mention the words "climate change" and talk as if increased jobs in coal mining somehow balance that out. If Trump rescinded regulations requiring warnings on cigarette packages and opened up smoking in restaurants, must we expect an article like this in the NYT celebrating the coming increase in profits for cigarette companies, and failing to discuss in any detail the links between cigarette smoking and deadly diseases? The secretary of interior just as well arrange legislation to enable us all to eat ground glass, and the NYT report that the profits of glass making companies will be increasing now.
1
Your headline "Gets New Life" represents the exact opposite of what it will achieve: it will destroy life. Unnecessarily, to satisfy an anachronistic economic belief. A more accurate headline would be "Under Trump the Zombie Coal Industry is Made to Look alive".
Democrats better figure out how to combat Trump's success quickly, or all they'll have in 2020 is "Russia, Russia, Russia."
3
You call decimating the country success? Gimme a break!
Liberals must are beside themselves watching coal miners working and not depending on handouts from them.
Trump is demonstrating that much of the environmental movement is a scam designed to create poverty.
Trump is demonstrating that much of the environmental movement is a scam designed to create poverty.
6
No, he's proving that there are enough Americans who vote based solely on their self interests and have no understanding of how the environment or the economy work. He's also wrong about coal: those jobs will never return and those miners need to be retrained to do other jobs that pay well. Mining is a dirty and dangerous job. It's one that should disappear and be replaced by cleaner jobs that will pay more. Trump's refusal to admit that is crippling the economy in areas occupied by people who don't want to move and shouldn't have to move.
Mining has not been an expanding field for decades. It's a disservice to miners and their families to lie to them and say their jobs are waiting for them once the economy improves or regulations change. Then again, I'm just a bleeding heart liberal who likes to breathe clean air, drink clean water, live where it's clean and hope that my fellow Americans can do the same.
Mining has not been an expanding field for decades. It's a disservice to miners and their families to lie to them and say their jobs are waiting for them once the economy improves or regulations change. Then again, I'm just a bleeding heart liberal who likes to breathe clean air, drink clean water, live where it's clean and hope that my fellow Americans can do the same.
14
Sorry but mining on MY land at LESS than market price is a handout.
Does the economically strongest nation in the world (the U.S.) need to create jobs-not-handouts for its poorest people by mining environmentally destructive coal and selling it to China so China can clean up its own air and water? Something is wrong with this picture...
All coal mine owners & their families, MUST live right next to the mine, down wind preferably. Drink only water from the mine. Eat food grown in the area. Their children MUST go to local schools, drinking only the water delivered to their home from the mine, not the sanitized water in school bubblers, or eat food from the school that is attempting to keep local children healthy, which will get harder every day under this regime. If any member gets sick, NO medical care allowed. Hope all their kids die. They don't care about anyone else's. They don't live in the pollution zone. They should. With no filters on their water, so they drink & cook with what is sent directly from the mine, wash, bathe, clean cuts, scrapes, & worse with water from the well on the property they live on, NO filters.
Time *he* moves out of the White House to a building built just for *him*, his family, his evil minions (& families), cabinet (& families), in a played out coal mine. Water pumped from the mine for all uses for the regime. Oh, since the whole congress can't move out there, the leaders, committee chairmen, aides must come for meetings, with all family members, at least once a week, on their own money. Drinking,eating, washing with the pollution they & *he* ok'd. Zinke & family can also move into a 'mine' house. Only FAIR! Won't have to worry about any of the current regime running again. All will be dying or dead of their own pollution. Which I think is fair.
Time *he* moves out of the White House to a building built just for *him*, his family, his evil minions (& families), cabinet (& families), in a played out coal mine. Water pumped from the mine for all uses for the regime. Oh, since the whole congress can't move out there, the leaders, committee chairmen, aides must come for meetings, with all family members, at least once a week, on their own money. Drinking,eating, washing with the pollution they & *he* ok'd. Zinke & family can also move into a 'mine' house. Only FAIR! Won't have to worry about any of the current regime running again. All will be dying or dead of their own pollution. Which I think is fair.
Easing restrictions on energy and mining increases our wealth and personal freedoms. Trump is keeping his promise to make America great again.
6
You make an assertion, but where is the evidence? Can you explain how doing away with these mining restrictions increases my wealth or my personal freedom? (It certainly doesn't increase my freedom from pollution, for example). And if it's not aimed at my wealth or my freedom, whose wealth and freedom will it benefit, specifically?
1
"Our wealth?" Really? Because it seems pretty clear to me from reading the article that the only people who are going to see "wealth" are the owner/operators of the mines.
And, the public wealth of having beautiful, unspoiled areas that we could all go visit and take great pride in, that wealth will be gone, too.
And, the public wealth of having beautiful, unspoiled areas that we could all go visit and take great pride in, that wealth will be gone, too.
33
Republican Family Values:
1. Are for rich people
2. Are for rich Republican people
3. Are not for anyone who is not part of the economic upper class
4. Are important only when applied to their families and others like them.
5. Mean nothing if you have to work and earn the paycheck
6. Don't apply to the GOP themselves
7. Don't include the right for the rest of us to breathe clean air, drink clean water, live where there isn't a toxic dump, have safe workplaces, have decent homes, or anything approaching a decent life.
The GOP cares for two things only: tons of money and the power that comes with it. If you don't have those two things you can live on a toxic dump site. End of story.
1. Are for rich people
2. Are for rich Republican people
3. Are not for anyone who is not part of the economic upper class
4. Are important only when applied to their families and others like them.
5. Mean nothing if you have to work and earn the paycheck
6. Don't apply to the GOP themselves
7. Don't include the right for the rest of us to breathe clean air, drink clean water, live where there isn't a toxic dump, have safe workplaces, have decent homes, or anything approaching a decent life.
The GOP cares for two things only: tons of money and the power that comes with it. If you don't have those two things you can live on a toxic dump site. End of story.
5
Gee -- I don't remember anyone feeling too bad about all the middle-age women who lost their nice administrative jobs when PCs and voicemail came in during the 80s.
9
They're still employed, just using better tools to squeeze more efficiency into the process. The young women behind them got more educated and went into higher-paying jobs.
This is purely pandering to the hardcore Trump base that he needs to preserve in order to have any hope of re-election success. The Coal Ship has sailed, it's an energy of the past, and the market is shrinking for good, for good reasons. The states will pass legislation to phase is out even if the EPA and Department of Interior are sucking up to the Trump supporters.
3
trump is committed to returning the country to the good old days of black lung disease and toxic drinking water courtesy of an unregulated coal industry.
Maybe this neanderthalic ploy will end up killing off more of his rabid West Virginia and Kentucky, and Tennessee voters hastening both trumps' exit from his evil reign and his voters from planet earth. And market wise I just can't wait to install a new burning boiler in my home to replace the clean burning cheaper gas unit sitting there right now. So smart Donnie!
Maybe this neanderthalic ploy will end up killing off more of his rabid West Virginia and Kentucky, and Tennessee voters hastening both trumps' exit from his evil reign and his voters from planet earth. And market wise I just can't wait to install a new burning boiler in my home to replace the clean burning cheaper gas unit sitting there right now. So smart Donnie!
1
If not for the fact that I knew those placid animals grazing peacefully on the prairie were to end up being brutally slaughtered, ground up and served up on a calorie laden greasy bun by a corporate behemoth like MacDonalds, I might feel differently about coal mines.
1
If Trump had been president during the dawn of automobiles and electric lights; he would have placed all his bets on anvils, blacksmiths and kerosene lamp wicks!!! And he would have pulled out of the World Accord on Electrification!!! We'd still be sitting in the dark with our horses tied to the front porch.
3
If we/they have to resort to Public Lands to solve an INDUSTRY Problem,..shouldn't WE be focusing on expending time/$$s/Resources on assisting these workers in other ways,...long term?
This is like giving a Heart Transplant Patient a dirty magazine,
I concede you'll probably enjoy it, if you'll concede it's not going to address your long-term issues.
This is like giving a Heart Transplant Patient a dirty magazine,
I concede you'll probably enjoy it, if you'll concede it's not going to address your long-term issues.
There is an old saying,"Stupid is as stupid does.". Coal minning went out decades ago! Next thing new will be let's sell it to North Korea!
4
"Business friendly?" Why not call it for what it is, selling off the environment.
7
Make American great (and beautiful) again: Strip mine it from sea to shining sea.
4
I say bring back the horse and buggy, smoke signals, and iceboxes too.
6
This is definitely the theater of the absurd. So the plan is to spoil public lands that have been protected since the beginning of the 20th Century in order to extract a dirty energy source that the WORLD has determined it doesn't want need anymore. Meanwhile forward thinking countries (China, India, etc.) are doubling down on clean energy development and as a result creating millions of jobs for their citizens that will be sustainable for decades to come. Is this the Republican Leadership that we are going to endure for the foreseeable future? I sure hope not.
8
It's incredible that we have to look to China and India for the future. What a flip. That's what comes of planning only for the short-term.
I am 58 years old. You guys have protested new dam projects, nuke power, oil drilling, fracking, coal. The truth is you hate this country and dont care if we have to rub two sticks together in order to stay warm.
You hate farms that have cows and pigs. You hate anything and everything about this country. BTW, just read aug temps will be way below normal. Global cooling?
You hate farms that have cows and pigs. You hate anything and everything about this country. BTW, just read aug temps will be way below normal. Global cooling?
6
True, cool air pools from the midwest will bring a little cool weather to parts of the U.S. in the next few days. But then our U.S. weather is expected to be hotter than usual in the second half of August. Meanwhile, the first 6 months of 2017 are the second hottest on record, after 2016, and that's without a warming El Nino effect like we had last year. Europe is in the grip of a heatwave this month dubbed "Lucifer." Death Valley just recorded its hottest July ever. You can make the point that we need to exploit fossil fuels to cure joblessness (if you can convince us that people, not automated machines, will actually do the work). You can try to make the point that rich people are entitled to exploit these fuels, to keep our economy humming along. But don't bother trying to convince anyone that global warming isn't real, because it's deadly real.
1
Treasuring the environment is hating the country? Huh
How does caring about the environment mean that a person hates the US?
"BTW, just read aug temps will be way below normal."
World wide? Also, like most ignorant conservatives, you confuse weather with climate.
"BTW, just read aug temps will be way below normal."
World wide? Also, like most ignorant conservatives, you confuse weather with climate.
2
Nothing like going back to the 20th century and beyond or turning into China. Is that investigation of Russiagate finished yet? This bum as got to go and ASAP.
What Colin Powell said about us going into Iran in 2003 holds here: the GOP breaks it they buy it. We elected them and we didn't care enough about clean air, water, and soil, we're getting what we elected. No surprises here. Now it's just about the body count.
6
Gerrymandering and the Electoral College are the way the Oligarchs have stepped on democracy to install their losers into office.
Count to 3,000,000. That is how many more ballots Mrs. Clinton (The true choice of The People.) received than this fossil fuel polluter.
Count to 3,000,000. That is how many more ballots Mrs. Clinton (The true choice of The People.) received than this fossil fuel polluter.
5
This, this, my friends, is the nightmare of the Trump election victory come to roost. The thing that made us quiver. Not the circus of the Oval House that you could see coming, but the underground , literal and figurative trolls, that would begin work the moment of his election, to claim power to rape public lands and make environmental and educational and legislative initiatives that would far outlast a Trump Presidency.
Land defiled now will always and forever be defiled.
We might as well put a big, garish , gold Trump banner across the entrance to this land, pristine since the beginning of time, public land, while Trump defiles and rapes her in the name of a blink of the eye energy needs.
We have seen the photos of us as a tiny blue bubble in the universe. We are not so big as individuals to greet visitors with a toxic environment.
Land defiled now will always and forever be defiled.
We might as well put a big, garish , gold Trump banner across the entrance to this land, pristine since the beginning of time, public land, while Trump defiles and rapes her in the name of a blink of the eye energy needs.
We have seen the photos of us as a tiny blue bubble in the universe. We are not so big as individuals to greet visitors with a toxic environment.
19
Land defiled now will always and forever be defiled.
Manhattan is land defiled with concrete, asphalt and metal.
The pristine land gone forever to appease man's avarice.
Manhattan is land defiled with concrete, asphalt and metal.
The pristine land gone forever to appease man's avarice.
I personally can't wait to see the Trump Presidential Library after he leaves office impeached, resigned or however. Just think what it would look like knowing his garish tastes.
Maybe it'll have bars on it.
Maybe it'll have bars on it.
"Good stewardship of the environment is not just a personal responsibility, it is a public value... Our duty is to use the land well, and sometimes not to use it at all. This is our responsibility as citizens, but more than that, it is our calling as stewards of the earth."--George Bush
8
Coal production levels have been flat-to-declining for the last 15 years and the price per ton has dropped substantially over that same timeframe, holding steady at $40 / ton these last 2 years. As a cocktail economist, I struggle to see how increasing potential supply, while demand is unchanged, results in anything other than lower prices and job loss.
Lower priced coal puts downward price pressure on all energy, both fossil and alternative. Lower prices cause higher cost production capacities to be avoided, so jobs across the energy sector are lost. While the manufacturing sector as a whole gets a break from lower energy costs, manufacturing in energy related industries suffers from reduced demand as do communities sensitive to energy employment.
Whether one considers the current turn-down in the economies of shale oil and tar sand communities, or the larger scale of Venezuela and Russia, relying on natural resources for long-term economic prosperity is a losing proposition. Trump should instead focus on fostering entrepreneurism and cottage industry...these are the wellsprings to Republican ideals.
Lower priced coal puts downward price pressure on all energy, both fossil and alternative. Lower prices cause higher cost production capacities to be avoided, so jobs across the energy sector are lost. While the manufacturing sector as a whole gets a break from lower energy costs, manufacturing in energy related industries suffers from reduced demand as do communities sensitive to energy employment.
Whether one considers the current turn-down in the economies of shale oil and tar sand communities, or the larger scale of Venezuela and Russia, relying on natural resources for long-term economic prosperity is a losing proposition. Trump should instead focus on fostering entrepreneurism and cottage industry...these are the wellsprings to Republican ideals.
7
Both China and India are continuing to build coal powered generation, demand for coal will remain for quite some time. Might as well get that dirty stuff out of mother earth and use it. Plants like the extra CO2 it releases as evidenced by the fact that over the last several decades there has been a massive increase of between 25% and 50% of vegetation coverage on this earth.
Yes, it is a losing proposition. But Trump is doing it anyway. Kind of like with his casinos. Failure is his business model. Rob Peter to pay Paul. Shell game. Flash and dazzle. No substance.
Absolutely sickening, the whole world is moving away from the dirty polluting fossil fuels and going to clean energy to save our earth and our lives! And we are stuck in the muck with the dinosaurs..We will lose in the long run....having not embraced the future!!
9
When I got to the statement saying ' Coal companies face the same fate as cigarettes' I said good. Good since cigarettes took at least ten years from both my parents lives......
7
Not having progeny, I am relieved that my life span, currently at 71, is only about 15 to 20 years. I would hate to witness the suffering in a world of post-Trump and greedy, gutless, phony "Christian" GOP that will end in cataclysmic consequences.
9
As America boldly marches back to the 18th century
9
I shudder to think what the immense cost and likely loss of our carefully protected natural environment will be by the time Trump finishes his ignorance driven assault on our precious land. Trump is a travesty, pure and simple. Ignorance...ego and greed all in one package. God help us.
9
Socialize the costs (environmental and fiscal) and privatize the profit. The Republican mantra since Reagan. We'll never learn...
9
This is a repeat of the long term scamming of industry and Wall Street of the American people.
Read the history of the railroads, land kickbacks,
Oil and gas pipeline right of ways and leases.
Am totally unsurprised at the simplistic games played to chisel americans of lease rights.
What the article doesnt mention is the end game being played.
Buy the leases
Package them into "Public CompZnies"
Grab 25% of shares as a "Fee"
Puff up a fancy lieing prospectus
Sell the rest to the gullible public.
Bail out, run with the money.
Go bankrupt, collapse
Check the natural gas leases
No real jobs here folks, except for the suits.
Really?
Read the history of the railroads, land kickbacks,
Oil and gas pipeline right of ways and leases.
Am totally unsurprised at the simplistic games played to chisel americans of lease rights.
What the article doesnt mention is the end game being played.
Buy the leases
Package them into "Public CompZnies"
Grab 25% of shares as a "Fee"
Puff up a fancy lieing prospectus
Sell the rest to the gullible public.
Bail out, run with the money.
Go bankrupt, collapse
Check the natural gas leases
No real jobs here folks, except for the suits.
Really?
4
This is ridiculous! Tearing up our NATIONAL heritage for short-term jobs and profits to sell our nation's resources abroad!
And to allow the mining companies (many foreign-owned in the first place) to "negotiate large royalty discounts with sympathetic federal officials" and then to pay royalties on the basis of "sweetheart sales" to subsidiaries and affiliates, while claiming that to obey the law (which requires a minimum 12.5% royalty) and to calculate royalties on the first "arm's-length (or legitimate) sale" would be "unfair" is the height of arrogance and corruption.
If this is an example of how President Trump is "striking good deals for the American people", well, I hope there won't be too many more. I'm already "tired of winning"!
And to allow the mining companies (many foreign-owned in the first place) to "negotiate large royalty discounts with sympathetic federal officials" and then to pay royalties on the basis of "sweetheart sales" to subsidiaries and affiliates, while claiming that to obey the law (which requires a minimum 12.5% royalty) and to calculate royalties on the first "arm's-length (or legitimate) sale" would be "unfair" is the height of arrogance and corruption.
If this is an example of how President Trump is "striking good deals for the American people", well, I hope there won't be too many more. I'm already "tired of winning"!
4
Coal is done. It has been in decline for 75 years. More people work for Arby's than mine coal.
This administration, aside from it's criminality and cheating to attain power, is living in a fantasy of what they imagine to be the "good old days" of the late 1940s.
Time only moves one direction, and as long as Republicans hold power everyone else moves with it except these United States. We are stuck in reverse trying to push a moving fright train backwards.
This administration, aside from it's criminality and cheating to attain power, is living in a fantasy of what they imagine to be the "good old days" of the late 1940s.
Time only moves one direction, and as long as Republicans hold power everyone else moves with it except these United States. We are stuck in reverse trying to push a moving fright train backwards.
5
When I was in Prague, in 1993, we would tour around all day, and when I returned home to the hotel, and freshen up: the black coal dust that would be in the tissue after I blew my nose was shocking. Guess what they were using for fuel in Prague?
6
"Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes" Richard Reavy warned. LIKE THAT'S A BAD THING?!
7
Well, that is what the Koch's paid for, now isn't it?
Love the lawsuit from someone in Virginia that he didn't get his election money's worth because Congress didn't overturn the ACA....
Love the lawsuit from someone in Virginia that he didn't get his election money's worth because Congress didn't overturn the ACA....
4
Coal is horrible, and should be phased out as much as possible. The miners can be retrained to do less harmful jobs. It pollutes the environment, and they are letting it happen! They are monsters, and this is just so american, rape the environment for short term gain and long term pain. Trump is just sickening.
5
Next he will bring back slavery.
4
So let me get this strait, the Coal Company's want the American people, you and me, to give them permission to take the coal off of public lands and get charged less tax on their profit money that come from that free use of our land.
If Mr. Trump thinks that's is a Good deal for America, then this country will never be in his words Great Again.
If Mr. Trump thinks that's is a Good deal for America, then this country will never be in his words Great Again.
4
Remember this old song, "Paradise?"
Refrain:
"And Daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well I'm sorry my son but you're too late in asking
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away."
Is this what we really want anywhere???
Refrain:
"And Daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well I'm sorry my son but you're too late in asking
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away."
Is this what we really want anywhere???
5
Mr. Reavey, the company’s chief lobbyist stated that, Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground.
?So this is a bad thing"
What Mr.Reavey and the coal industry are acknowledge is that there is a direct correlation with coal,cigarettes and cancer.
?So this is a bad thing"
What Mr.Reavey and the coal industry are acknowledge is that there is a direct correlation with coal,cigarettes and cancer.
4
Coal is over. The stupidity of this is beyond belief. Just more symbolism for Trump's base, and more for the dirty energy donors.
Dumb, short-sighted, destructive, blind.
Dumb, short-sighted, destructive, blind.
7
Trump and his ilk are infected with the sickness of greed. They don't care what happens to the environment or the rest of us. As long as they profit, that's all that matters.
15
We don't want the energy industry to suffer like the tobacco industry did. WHAT? They lied, they put CEO salaries and shareholder interests in front of the greater good by such a wide margin that it was criminal and they were caught red-handed. Big Energy is just as disgraceful.
I see the effects of the energy industry's greed every day. It is mind-boggling.
A March on Wyoming would be nice to see. I encourage every American, and every foreign tourist for that matter, to tour more of Wyoming than just Yellowstone and Jackson. It is beautiful and headed for destruction.
Our law makers are ready to put economic interests before endangered species.
I will stay here and continue to fight with my boots on the ground and my time and money where my mouth are. But the sparsely populated West does need to rest of the country to protect it from special interests who dupe ignorant locals into believing that local control is best because locals are on-site.
Like Freddy Mercury cried, "Get on your bikes and ride!!"
I see the effects of the energy industry's greed every day. It is mind-boggling.
A March on Wyoming would be nice to see. I encourage every American, and every foreign tourist for that matter, to tour more of Wyoming than just Yellowstone and Jackson. It is beautiful and headed for destruction.
Our law makers are ready to put economic interests before endangered species.
I will stay here and continue to fight with my boots on the ground and my time and money where my mouth are. But the sparsely populated West does need to rest of the country to protect it from special interests who dupe ignorant locals into believing that local control is best because locals are on-site.
Like Freddy Mercury cried, "Get on your bikes and ride!!"
8
It is shameful to make ignorant people believe that coal mining is the answer.
I am growing quite desperate at leaders who look at short term gains. Our leaders should be visionaries
I am growing quite desperate at leaders who look at short term gains. Our leaders should be visionaries
8
Meanwhile...."China is leading the way in solar energy expansion as renewables surge. The development of renewable energy is setting new records, with solar power now becoming cheaper than energy from new coal or nuclear plants. China and other players in Asia are making serious inroads into the market".
What a loser this nation has become (and our environment destroyed) as our political system continues to be hijacked and controlled by the petrol billionaires.
What a loser this nation has become (and our environment destroyed) as our political system continues to be hijacked and controlled by the petrol billionaires.
8
Couldn't help when I heard about sanctions on North Korea including coal, I had to wonder if the enthusiastic support from Trump's ambassador to the UN has a "subterranean" reason.
Not much of a sanction with even China cutting way back on coal consumption. Only that future third world backwater USA seems to be betting on coal these days.
Not much of a sanction with even China cutting way back on coal consumption. Only that future third world backwater USA seems to be betting on coal these days.
3
I am surprised that the reporter mentions by name executives of many compaies here - and making them sound like villains.
Yet, when it comes to BNSF - this reporter says that its parent company made a donation to Mr. Zenke but does not identify it.
The parent of course is the Berkshire Hathaway - run by the famous Oracle of Ohama - Mr. Warren Buffett.
Many in the media are in love with this man as he projects himself as a good capitalist - and he is indeed.
I admire him also for his philanthropic activities and fighting for shareholders.
Yet, this reporter is remiss in not mentioning the parent company by name when he mentions names of so many others.
As to a mention of Mr. Buffett - readers may be left to find out his name. But that of his company needs to be mentioned so readers may not think that badly about others mentioned here.
Yet, when it comes to BNSF - this reporter says that its parent company made a donation to Mr. Zenke but does not identify it.
The parent of course is the Berkshire Hathaway - run by the famous Oracle of Ohama - Mr. Warren Buffett.
Many in the media are in love with this man as he projects himself as a good capitalist - and he is indeed.
I admire him also for his philanthropic activities and fighting for shareholders.
Yet, this reporter is remiss in not mentioning the parent company by name when he mentions names of so many others.
As to a mention of Mr. Buffett - readers may be left to find out his name. But that of his company needs to be mentioned so readers may not think that badly about others mentioned here.
2
Trump ! The arch criminal villain of the planet.
"reversing Obama-era restrictions to help create “wealth and jobs.”"
This imbecile, who sold his soul to the polluters, will create "climate destruction and diseases"
Lock him up.
"reversing Obama-era restrictions to help create “wealth and jobs.”"
This imbecile, who sold his soul to the polluters, will create "climate destruction and diseases"
Lock him up.
7
Please note 'wealth & jobs' really says 'wealth'.
Coal is getting to be almost completely automated. No jobs coming. Just more wealth. Which is *his* whole idea.
Coal is getting to be almost completely automated. No jobs coming. Just more wealth. Which is *his* whole idea.
The “Cher Strategy” that Richard Reavey champions in his Power Point presentation (from 2015) is to “go ‘all-in’ with Republicans, hope for a better Administration in 2016, and then ‘turn back time’”.
==
Mr. Reavey romanticizes the plight of the cigarette industry in the 1990s, as if we should ‘turn back time’ and unlearn the dangers of cigarettes. Should we also bring back leaded gasoline? ‘Turn back time’ resonates with Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ and shares the same flaw: they’re both slogans of people enamored with the rear-view mirror.
==
Mr. Reavey romanticizes the plight of the cigarette industry in the 1990s, as if we should ‘turn back time’ and unlearn the dangers of cigarettes. Should we also bring back leaded gasoline? ‘Turn back time’ resonates with Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ and shares the same flaw: they’re both slogans of people enamored with the rear-view mirror.
4
We, humanity, do not need more coal. Republicans look at the Earth with one thing in mind: How can we extract some money from it? New methods of coal extraction provide very few jobs for people, the work is done largely by machines. The wealth created will go to those already wealthy folks who own the coal companies. This is just another way to shovel more cash to already overstuffed bank accounts.
3
Mr. Reavey likened the industry’s existential crisis to that of tobacco companies in the 1990s. The coal industry, he told executives, had been targeted by a liberal conspiracy of environmental groups, news organizations and regulators. Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground. Hold on. The cigarette industry lied to Congress about the health risks of smoking cigarettes. The Government has an obligation to the people of the USA. Polluting our air and water does not meet that responsibility. Coal should suffer a fate far worse than cigarettes.
1
the world is moving to clean energy and trump is renewing coal on federal lands yikes I guess we are moving back to the 19th century after all
1
Can someone please take this issue to the Supreme Court?
The president cannot just ignore, or act against, the country's wellbeing!
The president cannot just ignore, or act against, the country's wellbeing!
3
One more frightening example of this administration's ability to only look backward. The future is clean and renewable energy. Trump's obsession with coal is one more nail in the coffin of the US's competitive advantage in the energy sector.
2
Opening federal lands to coal? Are there not enough coal mines to satisfy current demands? The cost of coal,with proper cleanup & permanent restructuring makes it far more expensive than renewables or natural gas. Why risk more natural destruction & taxpayers being required to foot the cleanup bill when a business digs the coal ,makes huge profits & then bankrupts itself out of any responsibility. Sounds like a Trump plan he has used many times,just look at Atlantic City. Trump/coal use the same playbook,two welfare queens. All because they create jobs that taxpayers are caught in subsidizing their ill-founded profiteering & backing out of their responsibilities via bankruptcy. So shortsighted policies.
2
You think *he* is even going to suggest cleanups? At all? Or just leave the mess. *He* can't see it. If *he* does, *he* thinks money, not pollution & ugliness. Where is *his* cut?
This is no different from welfare.
Except these people can eat, have homes, good clothing, education (if they want it) without any of it. Welfare is for those who won't have any of that without help. That is a BIG difference.
These people believe America should become the world leaders in 19th century technology. Epidemic, willful ignorance.
2
Instead of pushing for the Coal industry The Administration should be looking to expand clean energy, Wind Solar and the like. This is where the future is. As a kid in the 50's there were two homes on my block that still had coal deliveries to heat their home. I'm sorry to say Coal will go the way coblestone streets and gas street lights went. Besides the air we breath this has an effect on the Water we all use.
Follow the money.
So, just to be clear, we're sacrificing pristine public lands so some coal execs and shareholders can make more profits exporting our coal (because nobody wants it here in North America), and in the process they'll provide a few dozen "mining jobs" tending the machines that do most of the work in an industry which, overall, employs fewer Americans than Arby's and a third as many as the solar industry. What the heck are we doing people?
133
We're sacrificing pristine public land so Trump and his family can make more money. Greed and avarice and stealing and swindling and lying and cheating have no limits with the maniac and his group. They all should have been locked up years ago. Let's do it now before there is nothing left of the United States, before he takes over as dictator. The charges - treason, sedition, perjury.
1
Somebody told me that we were 'Making America Great Again' - with coal? Ask Elon Musk or Donald Trump- who is smarter?
Who's going to buy the coal they want to dig up? Very little is metallurgical coal which is largely exported for making steel. Many of coal's customers have switched to gas as its cheaper. This is likely to go the way of the XL pipeline down the tubes as not profitable. But wait the brilliant boys in the WH are coming up with some new ideas such as buggy whips, rotary phones and top hats.
1
One key thing here, is that the west coast cities aren't allow these coal exports to leave thru our shores. Another trump plan grounded in stupidity. The one thing that has changed- those of us who live on the coast and don't believe that coal needs to make a comeback understand the lack of vision and greed that coal represents. After all, the public lands are leased for pennies, the coal is dug up and moved to china. How many jobs created? not many. How much impact to the environment? too much. Coal is dead.
1
Sad as it sounds, it appears that Mr. Zinke is myopic in his understanding of the current crisis wth global warming. I wish the US Congress would pass legislation that requires all public servants in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of this great nation to understand the negative impact and consequences that CO2 has on our environment. If we don't act now, the concern is that we will not be able to reverse the current damage and future damage we make to mother earth with the use of fossil fuels.
Human need supersedes human greed.
We need internal growth, not external growth.
We need to shift the popular goal which has been promoted and has become a damaging fixed belief that making more, getting more than anyone else is a positive goal.
If you kill that which sustains you, for the sake of short lived gain you will soon be dust along with every other human and human "accomplishment."
The greatest person is one who masters their own worst impulses such as greed. If people cower in fear of your misused power you are a puny being.
We need internal growth, not external growth.
We need to shift the popular goal which has been promoted and has become a damaging fixed belief that making more, getting more than anyone else is a positive goal.
If you kill that which sustains you, for the sake of short lived gain you will soon be dust along with every other human and human "accomplishment."
The greatest person is one who masters their own worst impulses such as greed. If people cower in fear of your misused power you are a puny being.
Lemme see if I got this straight now. Trump wants to give 613 million acres of public land to some bunch of billionaire coal barons in the hopes of getting a few tens of thousands of temporary jobs, and then a few hundred long term jobs in a dying industry?
Sounds normal. For Trump.
Isn't this the sort of thing that wrecked U.S. Grant's Administration? And Grant was an intelligent and decent man.
1
"The Stone Age did not end because the world ran out of stones, and the Oil Age will not end because the world runs out of oil."
-Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute.
Part of the rational for this last gasp effort is the fact that wind and solar are now providing cheaper and more plentiful backup power than oil or coal. Those industries are now mounting a full scale attack on solar and wind in order to preserve their own centuries-old mature industries that are going by the wayside.
-Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute.
Part of the rational for this last gasp effort is the fact that wind and solar are now providing cheaper and more plentiful backup power than oil or coal. Those industries are now mounting a full scale attack on solar and wind in order to preserve their own centuries-old mature industries that are going by the wayside.
5
Coal production is declining primarily because of lack of demand--cheaper and cleaner natural gas is available. I doubt that many energy producers are going to make the investments needed to convert back to coal. Thus, increasing the supply will only drive the price down forcing the good people of Appalachia to work more for less.
This will also, as the article notes, harm the farming and ranching industries.
So, even without the environmental degradation, this sounds pretty stupid. Unless your friends are coal industry moguls.
This will also, as the article notes, harm the farming and ranching industries.
So, even without the environmental degradation, this sounds pretty stupid. Unless your friends are coal industry moguls.
84
The article quotes Mr. Reavey, coal industry lobbyist, sadly comparing the plight of the coal companies to a scene in “Independence Day,” when the US President asks the aliens, “what would you have us do,” and he replies, “Die.”
He was speaking to an industry trade group, so this was supposed to be a sad moment of existential angst. But Mr. Reavey has it backwards. The coal companies are the ones in the role of the alien invaders. To the coal companies, the “environment” is nothing more than a set of resources to be extracted, a profit to be gained. “Die” is what Mr. Reavey is saying not only to the “conspiracy of environmentalists,” but to the entire planet.
Private industry is naturally dedicated to its own survival. All unsustainable energy industries are the parasite that would kill its host. Their short term gain will be the planet’s long term pain.
Donna Fisher said it well for all of us, not just her Cheyenne community when she said, “we are wealthy in life here…We don’t have money. But we have land, water, and air. Snuff that out and we are gone.”
Government is supposed to safeguard that which we own together, our natural world and natural resources. If we can’t get government on track with its real purposes soon, we are gone.
He was speaking to an industry trade group, so this was supposed to be a sad moment of existential angst. But Mr. Reavey has it backwards. The coal companies are the ones in the role of the alien invaders. To the coal companies, the “environment” is nothing more than a set of resources to be extracted, a profit to be gained. “Die” is what Mr. Reavey is saying not only to the “conspiracy of environmentalists,” but to the entire planet.
Private industry is naturally dedicated to its own survival. All unsustainable energy industries are the parasite that would kill its host. Their short term gain will be the planet’s long term pain.
Donna Fisher said it well for all of us, not just her Cheyenne community when she said, “we are wealthy in life here…We don’t have money. But we have land, water, and air. Snuff that out and we are gone.”
Government is supposed to safeguard that which we own together, our natural world and natural resources. If we can’t get government on track with its real purposes soon, we are gone.
4
Particularly noticeable about this article is how few comments it has elicited. 370 comments for a situation that is so dire it is perhaps unspeakable?
2
Those who ignore (or, in this case, are ignorant of) history, are condemned to repeat it. Teapot Dome, anyone?
1
Next up Trump will bring back the Steel Industry, milk/butter/eggs home delivery services, and Model T cars. Ah, yes - progress!
The coal industry is dead and gone. It is a dinosaur. People need to stop living in the past.
The coal industry is dead and gone. It is a dinosaur. People need to stop living in the past.
3
There are already immensely large stockpiles of coal.
Where will all this new coal go?
Maybe with coal sanctions on North Korea the coal industry could sell to China.
Oh yea, China wants to get away from coal as well.
Where will all this new coal go?
Maybe with coal sanctions on North Korea the coal industry could sell to China.
Oh yea, China wants to get away from coal as well.
2
Let Trump and his family live near a coal mine for a few years and then tell me how he feels about the environmental impact of the industry. A person who cares only about himself could never show any concern for the environment. Just as Trump is vacationing in the clean country side, we would all like our family to live in a clean healthy environment.
5
Maybe the prevailing winds will blow coal dust at Zinke's house.
What most folk know about power generation and delivery is that they flip a light switch and like magic the lights come on. I could forgive most for their ignorance except what they advocate in their ignorance results in economic violence and an unstable power network where the lights magically coming on would not be guaranteed.
It is not possible to create a stable reliable power network using variable, renewable generation alone. That is why developing countries by necessity require conventional generation resources using high density energy sources like coal.
It is not possible to create a stable reliable power network using variable, renewable generation alone. That is why developing countries by necessity require conventional generation resources using high density energy sources like coal.
1
Coal is one of the reasons our electricity is so much cheaper that in Europe. Most Americans have no idea how expensive electricity is for homeowners in those countries with their "clean" windmills.
1
Windmills in all of Europe? You don't get out much do you?
We'd all be better off if we left coal in the ground. The Chinese are deeply committed to renewable sources of energy and have committed to solar, wind and improved battery storage options. When the Chinese get this focused they are pretty competitive. If Trump settles on coal, this nation has a setback in store.
3
Coal industry has been heavily subsidized by the American tax payer for decades and it still had trouble making a profit.
Coal struggles despite its cheapness and abundance.
Most coal power plants buy their coal at about $.005 a pound, not counting the cost of railroading it a thousand miles, storing it in stockpiles, pulverizing it, burning it, treating the exhaust, cooling the water and disposing of the wastes.
Coal struggles despite its cheapness and abundance.
Most coal power plants buy their coal at about $.005 a pound, not counting the cost of railroading it a thousand miles, storing it in stockpiles, pulverizing it, burning it, treating the exhaust, cooling the water and disposing of the wastes.
3
Theodore Roosevelt's legacy of conservationism is at risk here. Roosevelt fought tooth and nail to preserve our beautiful national landscape for current and future generations, establishing more public lands for the protection of natural monuments and endangered species than any other American. The Trump administration's actions here are a grave insult to the awesome work of a great President.
2
Public Lands belong to the PUBLIC, thanks to TR, not private, polluting industries. This country is going backwards just so they can say a relatively few jobs were provided. So not worth the tradeoff.
I'd like to see the cost benefit comparison between New coal jobs and the long term damage to humans and the environment....Anybody got that info? Mr. Potus?
3
Well how else do you propose we generate all the electricity we consume?
1
Let's bring back the source of energy that drove America's economy. In the 19th Century.
2
More theft from our lands for an extraction process that folds everything.
It might be easier to justify if this was something the nation needed more than unpolluted lands, but this is about greed.
The coal goes to other countries, the operators pocket the proceeds and make huge profits without paying anything to us, the owners of the land.
Strip mining needs far fewer employeees than deep mining. But it's still risky and itvdespiils the land. This represents the evil that Trump has unleashed.
What Trump has done is ignore the needs of the people who voted for him. The locals oppose the coal mining, just as the GOP Supressed the opposition of locals to the pipelines including the Keystone.
It might be easier to justify if this was something the nation needed more than unpolluted lands, but this is about greed.
The coal goes to other countries, the operators pocket the proceeds and make huge profits without paying anything to us, the owners of the land.
Strip mining needs far fewer employeees than deep mining. But it's still risky and itvdespiils the land. This represents the evil that Trump has unleashed.
What Trump has done is ignore the needs of the people who voted for him. The locals oppose the coal mining, just as the GOP Supressed the opposition of locals to the pipelines including the Keystone.
1
Seems pretty easy to me to connect the dots. US wants N. Korea nukes stopped, which can't be done without China. China wants coal. US Coal wants profits. Trump Administration doesn't care about environment, only cares about increasing holdings for the 1%.
1
Ryan Zinke, far from being any sort of steward of public lands, has turned out to be just another corporate hack who sees public lands as something to give away to various corporations to make money off of. So far he has shown no concern or any evidence whatsoever for any economic rational to do so, or any concern for protection of public lands from wholesale destruction. My guess is he will follow in the well trod footsteps of other republican hacks Like James Watt, and spend his time giving away the store and then cash out when his term is up and go to the corporate side for his well earned reward. Not all bribes are paid up front.
3
Public lands are part of the national wealth and,as such, belong to all of us, not just the corporate interests indebted to either party. When can I expect my check?
4
You nailed it!
Let's not fool ourselves; there are no checks coming anytime soon. Do we really believe opening coal pits will be helping with our infrastructure or anything else? I don't believe it for a second. It will be impossible for the average person to follow the money trail and we'll be expected to believe whatever untruths they want to toss our way.
Let's not fool ourselves; there are no checks coming anytime soon. Do we really believe opening coal pits will be helping with our infrastructure or anything else? I don't believe it for a second. It will be impossible for the average person to follow the money trail and we'll be expected to believe whatever untruths they want to toss our way.
There are many financial technological environment .... reasons coal usage has declined. How many people want to heat their home with a coal fired furnace in their basements?????
There is much more than politics to the coal vs natural gas vs renewable vs etc. debate.
The demand for power generation from certain fuels is driven by many cyclical factors, usually driven by costs of a particular fuel.
Sustained low natural gas prices have driven more power providers to seriously examine natural gas as a cost effective fuel option for energy generation.
Units most likely for a coal-to-gas conversion are 50-plus year old.
Although the conversion path is clearly not the right one for every plant, a large percentage have investigated and/or pursued coal to gas conversions.
Technical issues can greatly impact the viability, performance, cost, and reliability of any steam generating unit firing natural gas when such unit was not originally designed to do so.
Conversion of plants from coal to gas allow that asset to provide power on-demand through direct sale or sale in the capacity markets.
There can be significant financial benefits in the capacity market for a plant that is able to generate power when that capacity is needed.
There is much more than politics to the coal vs natural gas vs renewable vs etc. debate.
The demand for power generation from certain fuels is driven by many cyclical factors, usually driven by costs of a particular fuel.
Sustained low natural gas prices have driven more power providers to seriously examine natural gas as a cost effective fuel option for energy generation.
Units most likely for a coal-to-gas conversion are 50-plus year old.
Although the conversion path is clearly not the right one for every plant, a large percentage have investigated and/or pursued coal to gas conversions.
Technical issues can greatly impact the viability, performance, cost, and reliability of any steam generating unit firing natural gas when such unit was not originally designed to do so.
Conversion of plants from coal to gas allow that asset to provide power on-demand through direct sale or sale in the capacity markets.
There can be significant financial benefits in the capacity market for a plant that is able to generate power when that capacity is needed.
Who are they selling this coal to? China? Economics in the US favor natural gas over coal. That won't change any time soon.
1
and how much money did the Koch brothers give to the Donald?
3
"Mr. Reavey likened the industry’s existential crisis to that of tobacco companies in the 1990s. The coal industry, he told executives, had been targeted by a liberal conspiracy of environmental groups, news organizations and regulators. Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground."
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death. Worldwide, tobacco use causes nearly 6 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030.
More than 16 million people already have at least one disease from smoking. More than 20 million Americans have died because of smoking since 1964, including approximately 2.5 million deaths due to exposure to secondhand smoke. 8.6 million people live with a serious illness caused by smoking.
So Mr. Reavey thinks the coal industry should "stand its ground?"
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death. Worldwide, tobacco use causes nearly 6 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030.
More than 16 million people already have at least one disease from smoking. More than 20 million Americans have died because of smoking since 1964, including approximately 2.5 million deaths due to exposure to secondhand smoke. 8.6 million people live with a serious illness caused by smoking.
So Mr. Reavey thinks the coal industry should "stand its ground?"
4
and we need more coal?
why?
aren't coal fired plants being replaced by natural gas?
why?
aren't coal fired plants being replaced by natural gas?
1
From the New Yorker. Dec. 1970 - 47 years ago -
"At midnight next January 1st, all television and radio commercials for cigarettes will go off the air for good. Their removal by that time is mandatory under federal law. This ban is the principal result of the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which was passed by both houses of Congress last spring for the purpose of protecting smokers from being exposed, over public airwaves, to advertisements for a product that the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service has declared to be hazardous to health. The act is an extraordinary piece of legislation. It was passed in spite of massive pressure that had been brought to bear against it, and against the regulation of cigarette advertising generally, by the tobacco industry, the broadcasting industry, and their lobbyists and political allies. This was a combination that for years had proved itself invincible against a counterforce of scientists and public-health and public-interest advocates who, armed with formidable statistics on the damage to health and life caused by cigarette smoking, had sought to protect consumers by requiring all cigarette advertising to provide adequate warnings of these dangers."
Richard Nixon was President, we were neck deep in the Vietnam War, and cultural upheaval.
These things take time and energy...
"At midnight next January 1st, all television and radio commercials for cigarettes will go off the air for good. Their removal by that time is mandatory under federal law. This ban is the principal result of the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which was passed by both houses of Congress last spring for the purpose of protecting smokers from being exposed, over public airwaves, to advertisements for a product that the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service has declared to be hazardous to health. The act is an extraordinary piece of legislation. It was passed in spite of massive pressure that had been brought to bear against it, and against the regulation of cigarette advertising generally, by the tobacco industry, the broadcasting industry, and their lobbyists and political allies. This was a combination that for years had proved itself invincible against a counterforce of scientists and public-health and public-interest advocates who, armed with formidable statistics on the damage to health and life caused by cigarette smoking, had sought to protect consumers by requiring all cigarette advertising to provide adequate warnings of these dangers."
Richard Nixon was President, we were neck deep in the Vietnam War, and cultural upheaval.
These things take time and energy...
1
Trump's concept of environmental protection is to squeeze the last buck out of the land regardless of the repercussions.
1
Sigh. Another case of "filling the swamp" with predators.
Wow, I can't wait to replace my extremely gas efficient furnace to a dirty coal furnace. I'm "sure" my neighbors will be "very happy" with my decision, especially the ones who voted for Trump.
1
As one who has enjoyed our National Parks, I am devastated by this news. There is no reason to mine coal when clean energy like wind and solar is readily available. Many countries have already made a change to renewables.
1
Just how is mining coal in Wyoming and Montana going to help unemployed coal miners living in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other Midwest States? Is the federal government going to pay for their relocation?
So much for the GOP's magical invisible hand of the free market. Pushing supply still won't create demand for a product the market is rejecting.
101
Interesting point to note... 'green' EU countries and Canada are driving up the demand for US coal exports.
Won't the current and former coal miners in the East get even more hurt by the prospect of more lower priced Western coal on the market?
1
Much more show than substance here. Why? The market for coal fired power is disappearing due to simple economics. The culture clash has nothing to do with it.
It's happening right here in Page, AZ. 40 year old coal fired power plant will close at the end of 2019 and they had to fight to keep it open that long. A sweetheart deal for the coal company, the tribes and the power companies yet they are all walking away. Wind, solar and natural gas are cheaper and the renewables will continue to drop as the technology continues to improve.
The grid is worth something but the coal fired plant is not and will be torn down.
The future is here whether or not the Trump mob and the coal barons recognize it.
It's happening right here in Page, AZ. 40 year old coal fired power plant will close at the end of 2019 and they had to fight to keep it open that long. A sweetheart deal for the coal company, the tribes and the power companies yet they are all walking away. Wind, solar and natural gas are cheaper and the renewables will continue to drop as the technology continues to improve.
The grid is worth something but the coal fired plant is not and will be torn down.
The future is here whether or not the Trump mob and the coal barons recognize it.
85
Should be converted to natural gas like other plants.
Dont bet on Page closing just yet when regulations of Obama administration are 86ed. Indian nation needs to buy the plant and make more money than a casino
Yes in the US this is correct, around the world it is different. And if you forget CO2 advanced coal generation is a good idea for base generation. Obama knew little to nothing about electricity, the grid, physics, and many other practical things. He was a great community organizer and campaigner.
China builds two coal power plants per week. YOu dont seem to have a problem with that.
4
It isn't difficult to sympathize with the people who live in coal country, the people who want their lives, jobs, and sense of purpose given back to them. A lot of these people are very angry and feel that coastal liberals are condescending elitists, which is a major reason why Trump did so well in those states. Coal is a tremendously bad idea and a major step in the wrong direction, but unless the Democrats can offer a better economic stimulus package for rural Appalachia, then they are going to consistently lose there. You cannot simply wish these people out of existence or ignore their plight, they care little for the long-term risks of climate change when they have more urgent needs, like surviving in extreme poverty without any means of realizing their hopes and dreams.
45
Very well said, Beef. For some reason the Democrats simply cannot get their act together! They have no plans for these areas of the country. None. They need to develop a set of plans in a real hurry.
These poverty stricken people are largely doing it to themselves by opposing the socialist policies that could help them, namely greater federal support for public/higher education. How do you stimulate the economy of region that considers any assistance to be a crime of economic philosophy? If they want to resist society so badly, then too bad for them when society moves away from the antiquated resource they have to offer.
3
Oh, come on. If Republicans didn't live in the red state of Denial, we would have programs to help people transition during these economic shifts and we would have regulations that prevented the 1% from hoarding all the profits of technological change.
It isn't just about climate change, though that is the existential issue for all humanity. It's about keeping up with technological changes in the economy. These won't go away because people in dying industries hold their fingers over their ears and go la la la la. Coastal elites are not responsible for denying these folks opportunities; coastal elites are more than happy to provide education and support services while communities prepare themselves for inevitable changes. We all know who's against this forward movement, and yet the people who most need leadership to adapt to the future are the most likely to vote for the failed GOP ideology of the past.
It isn't just about climate change, though that is the existential issue for all humanity. It's about keeping up with technological changes in the economy. These won't go away because people in dying industries hold their fingers over their ears and go la la la la. Coastal elites are not responsible for denying these folks opportunities; coastal elites are more than happy to provide education and support services while communities prepare themselves for inevitable changes. We all know who's against this forward movement, and yet the people who most need leadership to adapt to the future are the most likely to vote for the failed GOP ideology of the past.
6
As the world is moving fast to a clean energy future with a massive shift to the non-conventional renewable sources of energy, Trump under the influence of the coal lobby is hell bent on turning the vast public lands into the polluting colliery thereby mortgaging the future of coming generations to the coal miners and other commercial interests.
34
People that do not do not live in the vastness of Montana and Wyoming are so disconnected from the reality of what open land looks like and the pittance the coal mining there has disturbed it. Down here in the vastness of New Mexico our BLM lands are being covered over with solar panels, bird killing wind turbines and crisscrossed with electrical lines from all the assorted alternative generating systems dotting said lands. Without a consistent source of 24/7 reliable power, our quality of life will deteriorate and cost of living will increase unjustifiably harming our poor more than anyone. Ref: "The Grid" by Gretchen Bakke. The onlyn renewable sources that are playing any part in this are Hydro and Biomass (which emits carbon). Solar and wind do not play a role that even dents out needs. The news is misrepresenting the reality of what renewable means.
Its so much easier to criticize others while omitting your own dirt:
"India’s Air Pollution Rivals China’s as World’s Deadliest" Feb 14, 2017 by NYTimes.
"India’s Air Pollution Rivals China’s as World’s Deadliest" Feb 14, 2017 by NYTimes.
1
Thanks to President Obama and Ms. Sally Jewel for their attempts to restrict destruction of OUR public lands and thanks to the environmental groups and states who are fighting these attempts to further enrich the Top 1% Global Financial Elite Robber Baron Good Old Boys Cabal at the expense of the rest of us and the planet.
Ms. Jewel says, “The corruption in the coal sector is just so rampant,”.
The corruption in the corporate/political sector has reached unheard of proportions. The only thing that stands in the way of their attempt at world takeover through financial manipulation, hate-anger-fear and WW3 is us.
WE THE PEOPLE must stop the destruction of OUR lives and the planet - together - right now. Every single person who values true democracy must step up and fight like hell to save the one thing they value most. Before it's too late.
Ms. Jewel says, “The corruption in the coal sector is just so rampant,”.
The corruption in the corporate/political sector has reached unheard of proportions. The only thing that stands in the way of their attempt at world takeover through financial manipulation, hate-anger-fear and WW3 is us.
WE THE PEOPLE must stop the destruction of OUR lives and the planet - together - right now. Every single person who values true democracy must step up and fight like hell to save the one thing they value most. Before it's too late.
25
They don't care. If a catastrophe happens, they will simply take it and make it into another kind of profit like they in New Orleans.
10
" Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground." Can't believe he said that. There is so much I can't believe coming from this administration and its allies. Meanwhile, in the right wing side of the media, people are still calling Obama names. What a country!
31
They see declines in smoking as "bad" because a handful of companies made billions from killing people with that drug.
And so we're back to the Reagan-era, reactionary James Watt theology- and exploitative-driven thinking of savaging the earth for private gain, damned the medium- and long-term consequences. Yet, as the data on climate change and landscape alteration continues to pour in, environmental scientists ominously warns us that, no matter how deep people may bury their heads in the sand and try to avoid consequences, we don't live in a vacuum and there will be biophysical consequences to pay that don't care about human borders, Changes in the environment are usually not linear in effect, and they are already occurring (read the NYT Changes in Environment Series, among others) and will continue to overtax societal structures and political stability around the world as people try to survive in a changing landscape. Do what you will, Trump, in trying to pull a fast one on the environment, but just remember, "it's not nice to fool Mother Nature".
11
I have always wondered why the James Watts and their irk only see public lands as something to be exploited and not enjoyed for what they are. We need another Theodore Roosevelt.
Wouldn't all these coal miners & Tribes rather be trained for the much higher paying jobs manufacturing equipment for renewable energy than going down into that cold black hell hole?
Retrain this vast human resource and set up these specialized plants for solar panels & associated equipment, wind turbines, blades and other associated equipment, etc. etc. on Tribe land so they would have jobs? To ignore this is a terrible waste of potential.
Coal use is dying and has a very narrow focus, not to mention the environmental issues associated with coal mining.
Has no one thought of this?
Retrain this vast human resource and set up these specialized plants for solar panels & associated equipment, wind turbines, blades and other associated equipment, etc. etc. on Tribe land so they would have jobs? To ignore this is a terrible waste of potential.
Coal use is dying and has a very narrow focus, not to mention the environmental issues associated with coal mining.
Has no one thought of this?
15
No, that is too inconvenient. They just want the government to guarantee what they have, no matter what the cost. We have poured literally billions into Appalachia to try to improve their lot, but they are resistant to any change.
2
You mean the jobs where you train people from other countries to do your job so it can be eliminated?
Not to worry, humans will have exhausted most all the natural resources this world has to offer in the next 500-hundred years, or much sooner if we devote our limited resources to feeding our voracious desire for making war and killing each other and every other living thing. No food, no breathable air, no spaceship to take billions to another world, no hiding from it for anyone and no god will save us, its failed creation. The future will be actual hell for any living thing still kicking around. Glad I'll miss it.
6
What a waste of money and time. No one wants to pollute. We all want cleaner air and water for our kids and our future generations. So this is not a political left or right issue. This is about us. Our families. Our money. Our lives.
Trump isn't smart enough. He's not a visionary.
Trump isn't smart enough. He's not a visionary.
16
Actually, now it is a fully "Left or Right issue." The ultra right wing has staked out these positions as litmus tests to see who is a "true" right winger, and who is just pretending. Any deviation from the ultra right wing agenda is considered heresy and will not be tolerated. And they, in the fashion of true fanatics, are absolutely ruthless in their enforcement of these dictates. The "base" willingly follows along in order be part of their tribe. They have no idea what damage they are allowing in their name.
Visionary!? The man is a retrograde form of toxic genetic degradation.
Boy howdy you said it! Trump seems to want to make every single decision he made bad for us and good for Russia. The stalking horse here, in his coal policy, is simply supporting the deniers of climate change.
His support for coal is a shibboleth used to pacify a region and it's less-educated population who think what is bad for them is actually good–because their idol said so.
His support for coal is a shibboleth used to pacify a region and it's less-educated population who think what is bad for them is actually good–because their idol said so.
Reprehensible. But before the coal lobby rejoices think about where this coal is located--out west. What does that mean for Ky, W.Va., Ohio? It means more coal bidding down coal prices and few jobs open to only those who will move out West. As in virtually all Trump promises,'helping' is actually hurting... For those who worry about real problems like uncompetitive coal, climate change and subverting national land use...Trump hurting continues hurting.
11
This is going on out west because there is less resistance due to fewer people and the politics of having inordinate control of congress despite their extremely low population. The coal itself is much lower quality than eastern coal. Note that much of it is destined to be shipped overseas so is not benefiting American energy use much.
“We are all affected by this constant regulatory quagmire,” Mr. Cadman said.
Interpretation: "we seek to rape public lands for the sake of resurrecting a dead, dirty industry, and along with my company I will do my best to make it happen. We are willing to pay legislators to hoodwink the public into believing the wisdom and economics in the return of coal".
Next, bringing back horsedrawn carriages and steam engines, depending on whether the Kockh brothers back the plan.
Interpretation: "we seek to rape public lands for the sake of resurrecting a dead, dirty industry, and along with my company I will do my best to make it happen. We are willing to pay legislators to hoodwink the public into believing the wisdom and economics in the return of coal".
Next, bringing back horsedrawn carriages and steam engines, depending on whether the Kockh brothers back the plan.
13
trump is taking this action to give his white male base jobs & keep the promise he will make them great again. This will be accomplished by any means possible.
I'm not a tree huger but we are caretakers of this planet.
Unfortunately, jobs for white males at any cost trumps clean air for future generations.
I'm not a tree huger but we are caretakers of this planet.
Unfortunately, jobs for white males at any cost trumps clean air for future generations.
9
Sung to the tune of "Back in the Saddle Again":
We're back to the 50's again...
We're back to the 50's again...
6
This makes as much sense, as propping up the horse buggy industry at the beginning of the 20th century.
18
Breaking News: Donald J. Trump just announced the invention of the light-bulb! Making him the bestus President ever!
10
You can only go backwards for a short time before you crash and burn. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump is taking the entire country down this road to crash and burn with him: fouling the environment, slowing the conversion to cleaner, more sustainable fuels, falling (further) behind the rest of the world. Unless this can be stopped, future generations will look upon Mr. Trump and his cronies as the group that poisoned and, finally, killed the earth...
15
We saw this coming – didn’t we?
The three states with the largest coal production are Wyoming, West Virginia and Tennessee. All about as Republican as it gets. Pennsylvania comes next; a big pick-up state for Donald Trump in 2106.
Of course, Trump is going to favor the coal industry.
As for us non-coalies, it’s highly likely that “market forces” will put a dent in these expansion plans. If coal is really losing ground to other forms of energy, as some commentators here are suggesting, it’s surely going the way of the horse-drawn buggy.
The three states with the largest coal production are Wyoming, West Virginia and Tennessee. All about as Republican as it gets. Pennsylvania comes next; a big pick-up state for Donald Trump in 2106.
Of course, Trump is going to favor the coal industry.
As for us non-coalies, it’s highly likely that “market forces” will put a dent in these expansion plans. If coal is really losing ground to other forms of energy, as some commentators here are suggesting, it’s surely going the way of the horse-drawn buggy.
72
Factually incorrect. The top coal producing states are Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Tennessee ranks behind the other red states like Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia, and Maryland.
Tennessee??? I don't think they being 22nd really are that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining_in_the_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining_in_the_United_States
When you look at per capita, please include West Virginia if you want to actually be accurate, and not just politically correct. Guess what, West Virginia has been Democratic for a hundred years (+), and only when Obama almost ruined the state's economy did the vast number of union workers wake up to the disaster Socialism and Obama were.
the 'Don' personifies ego selfish ignorance that will destroy the world
4
How wonderful!! Polluted air and water are always something to look forward to.
10
Next headline: "Under Trump, the Cotton Gin Gets New Life in U.S. Plantations."
11
What a joke - Trump is Pied Piper to a bunch of fools. Coal is filthy and it isn't coming back. This clown of a so-called "president" is just telling these people lie after lie after lie. They will be left with nothing.
7
These are our lands not trumps. Stop raping the environment for a fuel that is no longer viable. It is long past time to move on to cleaner energy.
15
...And why not bring back the Tin Lizzy. I'm heading down to the corner drug store to shop for a tube radio.
4
Public lands should remain protected and not be damaged for more greed. When is enough enough. NO more Coal mining on public lands. We need to move forward and think of our future not the past in regards to funding and propping up old industries.
134
Then these lands would no longer be public lands. Coal is not being mined for past generations. That's a bizarre claim and an impossible act.
This move to export coal to China is profound stupidity on an epic scale. That coal will be used to power Chinese factories that took American jobs and will further drain American wealth as Chinese products flood America.
10
Ryan Zinke needs to spend a summer here in southern Arizona if he thinks it's a good idea to pump more coal fired emissions into the atmosphere. It got so hot in Phoenix recently that planes were grounded, unable to fly. And it's going to get worse and worse and worse.
And then what is this genius going to say -- "Oh, we had no idea that managing climate change could be so difficult !"
And then what is this genius going to say -- "Oh, we had no idea that managing climate change could be so difficult !"
17
Remember Terry,according to Trump,climate change is a "hoax" And Zinke may be from Montana and was a former Boy Scout,but as I remember about the Boy Scouts,they were taught to love and respect the lands,not destroy them.
1
Let's not forget how water seeks its own level. Remember the 2015 Animas River spill? It was a gold mine, not coal, but the effects show how these industries can harm their immediate and further environments. The spill turned the river yellow, as you can see in pictures on Wikipedia "the Animas River between Silverton and Durango within 24 hours of the spill. The river turned yellow from the oxidation of dissolved iron in the escaped waste water.[1]" which then flowed into New Mexico too. Lots of effects all along the way, though hopefully they will have dissipated over time - this time.
Zinke was here, in Las Cruces NM, recently, to view our new Organ Mountains Desert Peaks monument - one long anticipated and welcomed designation for our region and economy - but he chose to have a controlled and select group for a 'chat', and avoided meeting with local legislators and our community, in what I'm observing as the very elitist trend in the current administration. This is what rankles - that the base supporters don't see this trend also. Mar-a-Lago, Bedminster, select access, on and on. This is all part of what I call the cipher class - they zoom around the planet above it all with no view except to enrich themselves and fellow high-flier back scratchers. We see this in action, ciphers. Take note. Trump is exposing you all to ridicule, beyond the gated worlds in which you live. Water flows there too, as well as air.
Zinke was here, in Las Cruces NM, recently, to view our new Organ Mountains Desert Peaks monument - one long anticipated and welcomed designation for our region and economy - but he chose to have a controlled and select group for a 'chat', and avoided meeting with local legislators and our community, in what I'm observing as the very elitist trend in the current administration. This is what rankles - that the base supporters don't see this trend also. Mar-a-Lago, Bedminster, select access, on and on. This is all part of what I call the cipher class - they zoom around the planet above it all with no view except to enrich themselves and fellow high-flier back scratchers. We see this in action, ciphers. Take note. Trump is exposing you all to ridicule, beyond the gated worlds in which you live. Water flows there too, as well as air.
7
What a convoluted article. Using a cattle rancher that contributes to the methane emissions problem as an impacted victim? This war on coal reminds me of the war on drugs. Stop the suppliers and the problem is eliminated? That rationalization has not worked out so well. Without an economically viable alternative that is reliable 24/7 in the halls, killing coal only creates higher costs for all consumers. All the money being dumped into stopping carbon and methane emissions should be going into research on clean source methods that can actually meet the demands on the national grid that is necessary to maintain our quality of life and standard of living realistically.
2
then we will have to pay them. this isn't OUR world, it's our future americans, we have done enough damage. clean air, water, they are paramount to our future. time to move into the 21st century. tax the rich more.
While I don't support the effort, we can only hope that the companies that drill and mine on public lands, do so with the idea of proper safety and stewardship in mind. Let's pray these companies never lose focus of managing this initiative as if were in the backyards of their own CEOs and Board Members. With this administration these companies will be on their honor and a human or ecological disaster on the scale of Deepwater Horizon is unacceptable.
1
Practicing "STEWARDSHIP " of Public Lands. If the 'track record' of the current "business friendly secretary of the Interior" and his oil industry friends and associates is any indication the FUTURE for clean AIR and WATER looks GRIM.
Oh, come on. Are you being sarcastic? The notion of these creatures having any concern whatsoever beyond making a profit at our expense conjures up visions of pigs flying. Keep praying - not a bad idea - but remember that god helps those who help themselves.
If Trump allegedly owes million to the Bank of China, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Blackrock and Blackstone real estate, not only should we not consider him adept at economic growth for the United States, but we should seriously consider the "Conflicts of Interest" that arise from the possibility of personal enrichment through the oval office. Namely, the patronage process of offering six Goldman Sachs executives positions in his administration (Elizabeth Warren broke the story in early February 2017).
4
"Mr. Reavey likened the industry’s existential crisis to that of tobacco companies in the 1990s." -- What an amazingly appropriate comparison. Tobacco kills people, Big Tobacco knew it for at least a decade and lied about it, and Big Tobacco simply didn't care about people's lives if they got in the way of their profits. Mr. Reavey, I cannot think of a better analogy. Thanks.
5
It is interesting that the ranchers in Montana are now worried that their water supply will be contaminated. Montana voted for Trump in a big way.
They are now getting what MAGA means. It is not to improve the lives and livelihood of the ranchers.
They are now getting what MAGA means. It is not to improve the lives and livelihood of the ranchers.
13
Zinke is a for using the land to make money for the few. He reflects Trump in this way. The only wild place to Trump is a Golf Course. Zero understanding of the health and beauty of nature and how it will impact all of us living on Earth. All about money over everything else. Coal does not employ many people, and is highly automated so it isn't likely to increase employment much. Very few will benefit at the expense of air, water, climate.
8
Why, Conrad Anker, did you cave in agree to not mention climate change. So much for speaking truth to power, eh?
One less hero for me, I guess.
One less hero for me, I guess.
2
Because Trump thinks he is the Messiah, he thinks he can revive the dead.
5
While the rest of the world switches to renewable energy for their economic benefit and the benefit of the environment we get coal in our stockings. Trump will destroy our public lands while putting us on the road to nowhere economically. Any other suggestions on how we make America great again?
160
While China and India are planning for the future, renewable energy, Trump and his coal buddies are bogged down in the past, playing to a base also mired in an outdated energy future. The future is not coal.
How will you vote for another Republican when you can't breathe, your house is under water, and your child can't read the warning sign in the toxic water?
This is maddening.
This is maddening.
7
This is a call to arms. We have the Obligation given us by the Founding Fathers. We have the means, left to us in the Constitution, by the same men. We can use our Right of Free Speech to discuss how to remove them, how to form our legal militia (army) The Freedom Warriors. We can use our Right of buying arms to arm ourselves, the again with the 2nd Amendment form non governmental militias. Band them together into the FW. So, find a militia in your area & join, or start one yourself.
Sitting around whining does no good. It's easy. In Russia it's the favorite past time. Does nothing. Except making sure you don't come to the attention of the regime, dictatorships like grumbly citizens unwilling to risk anything, & vote as required at election time. Of course *he* will be the one declaring the winners (who have already pledged total loyalty to *him* not our country). Look at Venezuela to see what 'The Land of the Free' will be.
Sitting around whining does no good. It's easy. In Russia it's the favorite past time. Does nothing. Except making sure you don't come to the attention of the regime, dictatorships like grumbly citizens unwilling to risk anything, & vote as required at election time. Of course *he* will be the one declaring the winners (who have already pledged total loyalty to *him* not our country). Look at Venezuela to see what 'The Land of the Free' will be.
We also need to call this for what it is: socialism for the rich. We are subsidizing a dying industry, talk about picking winners and losers. Of course, the cost of negative externalities created by coal is never factored into the price. If it were, coal would be so expensive that no one would burn it. We need to remember that elections are coming and that we as citizens need to speak loudly and clearly through the ballot box.
8
Kjensen: Socialism is an apt name for what Trump and his less than stellar appointees are doing but perhaps a better term is "stealing" from the rest of us to "enrich" the very rich.
Simply the reverse of trickle down to ballooning up.
The laws in our country as well as elsewhere have such deliberate built-in-holes so that wealth pours upwards, defying the law of gravitation. However, the energy to continue this grossly unfair and horrific distribution of wealth is embellished by a very strong smaller group of people who figuratively "own" both houses of Congress for this purpose and this purpose only.
Simply the reverse of trickle down to ballooning up.
The laws in our country as well as elsewhere have such deliberate built-in-holes so that wealth pours upwards, defying the law of gravitation. However, the energy to continue this grossly unfair and horrific distribution of wealth is embellished by a very strong smaller group of people who figuratively "own" both houses of Congress for this purpose and this purpose only.
1
Remember, *he* is trying to control more & more every day. *His* main goal is to rule this country. With only *his* rules, give *him* money, ruin the earth, air, water, ignore the climate (instead of replacing the heat/ac in the WH as they are doing, they should just tear both out.) No climate change no AC needed. Winters are warmer there (so no heat needed). Of course their will be outlier days, weeks, even months. Let em wear overcoats inside. Cut their electricity to 4 hours a day. All daylight hours. Cause the regime has to work, but, it will cut his TV watching to almost nothing. Watch him fall apart.
2018 may be to late to 'save' us by riskless elections. Easy for *him* to call any little thing a disaster, declare martial law, suspend the Constitution, & declare *himself* sole ruler of this dictatorship. Then no way left to get rid of him.
Or easier for *him*, congress passes a bill making any media discussion of votes (exit polls especially) illegal. Then changing the law so that the only one who can declare who got how many votes, nationwide, is *him*. Since *he* still says *he* won in a 'landslide', truth will never come into it, & the dictatorship will begin.
Time for The Freedom Warriors to stop waffling & get moving to remove *him*, *his* family, *his* evil minions, *his* cabinet, *his* already owned members of congress. Now we can arrest & try them. After *his* total takeover all that will be left is all out War & all of them & their families (all ages) death.
2018 may be to late to 'save' us by riskless elections. Easy for *him* to call any little thing a disaster, declare martial law, suspend the Constitution, & declare *himself* sole ruler of this dictatorship. Then no way left to get rid of him.
Or easier for *him*, congress passes a bill making any media discussion of votes (exit polls especially) illegal. Then changing the law so that the only one who can declare who got how many votes, nationwide, is *him*. Since *he* still says *he* won in a 'landslide', truth will never come into it, & the dictatorship will begin.
Time for The Freedom Warriors to stop waffling & get moving to remove *him*, *his* family, *his* evil minions, *his* cabinet, *his* already owned members of congress. Now we can arrest & try them. After *his* total takeover all that will be left is all out War & all of them & their families (all ages) death.
I haven't had the time to look through the other comments, but has anyone noticed that there is a disconnect between opening lands in the west to coal mining and Trump's promise to save coal mining jobs. The new coal mining operations will produce significant amounts of coal, but will require significantly reduced amounts of labor per ton produced. The result will be a net loss of traditional coal mining jobs overall, particularly in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky.
8
Well, Coal is going the way of the buggy whip. There never was a "war on coal" and the jobs have been decreasing since 1950 due to new mining tools, etc.
Coal =$60/MW-Hr; Gas = $40/ MW-Hr; Wind = $20/MW-Hr is the rest of the equation about the economic viability of Coal as a fuel. Between now and the end of 2018 there are scheduled closings for 251 Coal-burning power plants.
As the various PUC entities push power providers to adapt cheaper sources Gas becomes much more important since it can be used more effectively to get a power plant back up to peak after Solar or Wind die down during a day.
I think Coal's future lies in turning it into liquid products rather than burning it for power.
Coal =$60/MW-Hr; Gas = $40/ MW-Hr; Wind = $20/MW-Hr is the rest of the equation about the economic viability of Coal as a fuel. Between now and the end of 2018 there are scheduled closings for 251 Coal-burning power plants.
As the various PUC entities push power providers to adapt cheaper sources Gas becomes much more important since it can be used more effectively to get a power plant back up to peak after Solar or Wind die down during a day.
I think Coal's future lies in turning it into liquid products rather than burning it for power.
7
Trump has no respect for the planet or its inhabitants. This new plan of his, the raping of our public lands, points out the b-i-g difference between the well-intended politician and the greedy, land-grabbing real estate mogul. Although I realize "honest politician" has come to be considered as much of an oxymoron as "clean coal," there have been, and still are, many who seek the betterment of our nation. These lands have been wisely set aside, to preserve a portion of our nation's natural beauty for us and for future generations. Trump moronically seeks to destroy their beauty so a few businessmen can climb further up the millionaire/billionaire ladder and miners can continue to disembowel the earth.
Trump is a dinosaur in his thinking. We need sustainable sources of clean energy. Coal belongs to the past. Trump may deny our role in climate change, just like he denied Obama's birth-right to be president. But his denials have always been relative to ulterior, often sinister, motives.
Our public lands do not belong to any one person. They belong not only to us, they belong to the future citizens of this country. Trump may be president, but he is in office to lead the nation and protect its citizens, not to promote any one business. Continuing to pollute the atmosphere when there are alternate solutions on the horizon is not in our best interests. It will benefit only a few, and the benefits aren't worth the sacrifices—not even for them.
Trump is a dinosaur in his thinking. We need sustainable sources of clean energy. Coal belongs to the past. Trump may deny our role in climate change, just like he denied Obama's birth-right to be president. But his denials have always been relative to ulterior, often sinister, motives.
Our public lands do not belong to any one person. They belong not only to us, they belong to the future citizens of this country. Trump may be president, but he is in office to lead the nation and protect its citizens, not to promote any one business. Continuing to pollute the atmosphere when there are alternate solutions on the horizon is not in our best interests. It will benefit only a few, and the benefits aren't worth the sacrifices—not even for them.
9
The coal *he* wants to let the moronic coal czars get is the near the surface coal. As the article says it is less in demand here in the US every day. So they export it. Exporting ANY energy source is dumb. Right now coal is not a good source to be used. Once used it's gone forever. Better idea is to use renewable energy & husband our coal, oil, gas, as much as possible. So in the future (200 years from now?) a way is found to clean up these energy sources cheaply & I don't know, maybe clone them? Chemically make more, that takes a small amount of what we saved & makes a lot more, at a time it is desperately needed. If we have exported it all, or used it all up, there won't be anyway to use it to make more. If you want to leave something that is under the surface of this planet the best way is to LEAVE it there. Been there millions of years, let it just stay there. We produce enough oil for our needs, that means we are energy independent. But, our dumb government lets the Uber rich export it. So we have to buy it. Dumb, foolish, absolutely ridiculous! The exporters aren't the buyers so why should they care, they get good prices, those who buy get high prices (even higher than the exporters get). This is the sort of merry go round that a government is supposed to stop. But, this regime just looks for bribes & other ways to get money from shady businessmen. Of course they are all shady businessmen too.
I think the Bundy Brothers are hoping for a dismissal of all charges by Sec. Zinke. After all, they were simply taking their piece of the federal pie for nothing.
Federal land management has come a long way since the overgrazing and water polluting practices of earlier times. Now days there is a stewardship ethic among professional land mangers and most leasees who play by the rules. My fear is that under Zinke's "leadership" professionals that won't play by the new exploit rather than steward playbook will be gone. And that will have long term ramifications for the resource and the Department of Interior as an organization.
Federal land management has come a long way since the overgrazing and water polluting practices of earlier times. Now days there is a stewardship ethic among professional land mangers and most leasees who play by the rules. My fear is that under Zinke's "leadership" professionals that won't play by the new exploit rather than steward playbook will be gone. And that will have long term ramifications for the resource and the Department of Interior as an organization.
3
All this and no surprises when it comes to Trump. Not a day goes by when I hope that Mueller would speed up his investigation and hopefully find something on him. The faster we restore our democracy and bring decency back to the White House will be a good day for the entire world!
5
These greedy cretins will contaminate and spoil every single acre of public land, fill their coffers with money and walk away. They will leave a trail of devastation without any conscience because their only God is money.
8
The three branches of government have all been rigged through gerrymandering, voter suppression, election rigging, an archaic elective process, billions in corporate bribes posing as free speech, and unconstitutional Supreme Court seat thieving... It has reached the point that the majority may no longer have the tools necessary to vote these horrible criminals out... At some point, "other measures" may become the only viable options.
It would be wise for these greed driven traitors and thieves to remember how this country was formed in the first place.
It would be wise for these greed driven traitors and thieves to remember how this country was formed in the first place.
5
At what point will China and other countries join together and level sanctions against the U.S. for its polluting ways? Perhaps boycotts of various U.S. goods/services by the rest of the world are in our future?
A "Coalition of the Intelligent", if you will.
A "Coalition of the Intelligent", if you will.
3
Well, I figure that now is not the time to follow the Uber rich in putting any money in global banks. A lot of regular Russians did, their oligarchs banks, now under sanction. As we go, we deserve sanctions. Better to keep our (us peons) money in small local banks who don't deal with our big ones. Or ones in any other country. Years ago when HFC sold it's credit card division to that big Scottish bank & dropped it. Didn't have a big credit line on it, but, unlike HFC before then, it wasn't American. I can see *him* conning us to put our hard earned money in those Russian banks, then as soon as Mueller indicts *him*, have the Justice Department grab all our money, saying we were money laundering (*he* always says others are doing what *he* has done or is doing). Will give *him* plenty for *his* defense, & hurt us. *He's* already using the Treasury as *his* piggy bank. Why not steal our piggy banks?
From a karmic perspective - very bad move.
2
Coal is probably the worst industry in history, followed closely by oil and tobacco.
2
The Multiple Bankrupt - Draft Dodging - Russian Money Laundering - FOX Propaganda Watching - Pathological Lying - Nonsense Bellowing - Know Nothing Chauvinistic Bigot Trump is seventy one years old - he figures all damage he does to the country and planet likely won't affect him personally.... So, it's okay...
Remember, with Trump, everything is about Trump...
Remember, with Trump, everything is about Trump...
7
*He* doesn't even consider *his* kids & grandkids. Love to see *his* will. Leaves each the required $1. The rest goes to *his* bigot organization running 'friends'. *His* kids will have served their purpose. Don't deserve a dime. Just give them enough so they don't contest, cause if they do they won't get anything. *His* estate will then sue them for legal fees.
He ran on this issue. He won on this issue. Now he is delivering on this issue. I guess the Times readers aren't used to candidates keeping their campaign promises.
You had the chance the vote for Dr. Jill Stein. You didn't. It's a tough lesson. Sorry.
You had the chance the vote for Dr. Jill Stein. You didn't. It's a tough lesson. Sorry.
Are you kidding? Jill Stein- what planet are you on? Maybe Jill Stein should try to get elected to Congress in her own state before running for president of the country. Grow up
Jill if she had one (impossible) we would now have raging diseases that used to be only overseas. She would have brought them back post haste, by banning every vaccine. Welcome back Malaria, measles, rubella, mumps (lets get all our young men sterile), cholera, typhus, chickenpox (shingles), even small pox as she will demand all small pox in any form researchers hold be dumped into the sewers. Wham, small pox will be back. All over the US. And we will be immediately forbidden to travel to any other country in the world. Anyone here from overseas will be told they can not come home. Until they get 2 smallpox vaccine shots, both successful. They will send vaccine enough for their nationals, none for us, we are too stupid to live. If one child has an adverse reaction to a vaccine & 10 million don't get the dangerous, often deadly disease it protects them from, it's nasty for that 1 child. But, it is an acceptable risk. I am old enough to remember having measles, rubella (called German measles then), mumps (twice, one side at a time), don't remember chicken pox, but was only 6mnths old. First thing my older brother ever gave me. I had a small pox vaccination. I remember the panic before polio vaccines. Summer was, stay away from public gatherings, pools, BBQs. Someone would be contagious with it for several days before symptoms. Some contagious for long time with a mild case, but, the contagion was as bad as from someone in a hospital.
Megan: Dr. Jill Stein was the candidate of the Green Party -- emphasis on "Green", as in "a healthy environment". Perhaps you can research the 2016 platform she ran on.
Seems a little late for you and everyone else like you to be agonizing over the coal industry now. You had your candidate, and you walked away from her.
Seems a little late for you and everyone else like you to be agonizing over the coal industry now. You had your candidate, and you walked away from her.
Trump’s Presidential Theme Song should be “Whatever corporations want, corporations get, and little man, corporations want to pollute your land and air”
I apologize to Richard Adler and Jerry Ross who wrote the song “Whatever Lola Wants”
I apologize to Richard Adler and Jerry Ross who wrote the song “Whatever Lola Wants”
2
Isn't coal needed to produce steel?
The US stopped making steel wholesale a few decades ago. It's why the eastern part of the center of the country is called the rust belt.
Wanted too much profit, so was undersold by other countries. Better quality, better price. For building all those tall steel structure so popular. Steel industry thought those in the construction boom would pay through the nose for low grade steel. But, China (& others) came in with high grade steel at lower prices. Not just because they pay workers less, but, because to get into the US market they were willing to make less. US steel companies only saw a way to charge more, for more profit. Cut their own throats.
Wanted too much profit, so was undersold by other countries. Better quality, better price. For building all those tall steel structure so popular. Steel industry thought those in the construction boom would pay through the nose for low grade steel. But, China (& others) came in with high grade steel at lower prices. Not just because they pay workers less, but, because to get into the US market they were willing to make less. US steel companies only saw a way to charge more, for more profit. Cut their own throats.
Yes, and it will likely continue to use coal. The melts could be accomplished with other sources of energy, but the carbon, coke, needed is derived from coal and likely will continue to be.
The U.S. steel industry had no competitors until it did, and then the cost of modernizing their steel making facilities could not be justified, so they closed most of the mills. The problem was that markets for products do not take kindly to the cost increases that come with junking profitable facilities and taking on debt to replace them with potentially profitable facilities while competitors stick with the old profitable facilities. Other countries were willing to modernize because they had little to lose and a lot to gain.
Reading this article, I am becoming incrasingly convinced that when Donald Trump said the wanted to "Drain the Swamp" he wasn't talking about the corrupt "revolving door" situation where people work a few years as federal regulators and then, if they show a willingness to "play ball" go on to lucrative careers in the industry they once regulated. Oh no, the real situation is quite the opposite and Zinke and the other industry sympathizers in his crowd want to get rid of the regulators who don't "play ball", the dedicated public servants who are actually doing their jobs.
Global warming aside, why should coal companies--or any other commercial interest, get sweetheart deals from Uncle Sam? If the law says that a certain percentage of their profits from extraction are supposed to go to the American people then why are they being allowed to get away with paying a fraction of that amount? Doesn't this amount to large scale theft and aren't we the victims?
Democrats, here's an issue for you, that and the idea that we should be using our great innovative and technological capacity to be moving toward the future. Conservatives whine about subsidies for solar and wind energy but here is an example of fossil fuel companies being allowed to profit from extracting national resources from our public lands and paying next to nothing for it. I'd call that a pretty big subsidy, wouldn't you?
Global warming aside, why should coal companies--or any other commercial interest, get sweetheart deals from Uncle Sam? If the law says that a certain percentage of their profits from extraction are supposed to go to the American people then why are they being allowed to get away with paying a fraction of that amount? Doesn't this amount to large scale theft and aren't we the victims?
Democrats, here's an issue for you, that and the idea that we should be using our great innovative and technological capacity to be moving toward the future. Conservatives whine about subsidies for solar and wind energy but here is an example of fossil fuel companies being allowed to profit from extracting national resources from our public lands and paying next to nothing for it. I'd call that a pretty big subsidy, wouldn't you?
177
Sorry, you are not going to fix that with elections. No way. Both sides take lots of money from the Uber rich. So neither side is really on our side. It's time to clean em out. Make voting both easier & harder. Easier in that once you pass a civics exam you are a voter. Go to prison get that Right back when you get out. Except if you go to prison for voter fraud, then you never vote again, nor can you ever run for office. Flunk the test (after first year [a zoo I admit] Course & test given Senior year, drop out, no test,no vote) no vote, no right to run for office. Course book written in 12th grade English. All native born must ace the exam (everyone says we are better, prove it). For exam no local proctors. I'd also suggest all Federal elected officials should be elected nationally, not by state or district. We either care for the whole country, or we are not a country, but, small hateful city states. All of congress voted nationally. Not state or district. So no gerrymandering possible as no moving of district lines. Once you get your National ID, with pic & retina scan, you can vote, period. No precincts. Go to any polling place (in a national election) in any state, swipe card, vote in your election. No one can use that card but you. Only you have your retina. Will need very good cyber security. But,it will be worth the money to pay for the best, & make the best responsible for any problems. Eventually you'd be able to vote in any local election from any polling place.
Oil companies have been getting a $4 per barrel subsidy for decades. Nuclear plants are shutting down because even with subsidies they aren't feasible.
Every major innovation that has built this country was heavily subsidized by the federal government from the railroads to computers and electronics. The federal government is by far the best creator of jobs and growth in this country.
The fact that alternative energy gets subsidies is the way it works and has always worked but older industries always want their cut to.
Every major innovation that has built this country was heavily subsidized by the federal government from the railroads to computers and electronics. The federal government is by far the best creator of jobs and growth in this country.
The fact that alternative energy gets subsidies is the way it works and has always worked but older industries always want their cut to.
The swamp is in many instances those career people who have jobs doing things that somewhat are already complete. They have personal agendas and need to be reduced. It is also people who are in excess of the number required to do their jobs, the pentagon is full of such as is I bet every agency.
Most of the comments address the demise of coal-fueled energy production. What horrifies me is the prospect of hundreds of strip mines permanently scarring our country. We know,from bitter experience that the damage is seldom, if ever, reversed and we have exposed our water supply (our most valuable resource, by far) to possible contamination.
I am old, and glad of it. At least I will not have to live long enough to see the results of this latest Trumpian folly.
I am old, and glad of it. At least I will not have to live long enough to see the results of this latest Trumpian folly.
I'm 66 & disabled. No kids so no grandkids. So I don't have to care. If pollution gets me tomorrow, I've had a good run.
But, I've decided to fight for my country. Guess you could say I'm a Patriot. I'm beginning to wonder how many of me are left? Too many, keep it pretty (for me), keep it cheap (for me), I need health insurance, don't care about those lower than me in financial security (just me).
When I say fight I don't mean in an election. Too easily stolen now a days. I mean with 10million marching armed (under 2nd Amendment rights), on DC, blaring who we are, where we are going, & how it would be good if you came too (under 1st Amendment rights). Some would organize & stay in their state capital to clean it up. Only so many can fit in DC, so it will also be encouraged. Oh, some of our units will encircle the Uber Rich's homes (to protect them from the base, who will be very unhappy they aren't going to get to the top as they thought [wouldn't anyway, too dumb to know it]). Also to keep them from leaving as special prosecutors will be investigating them all to see if they are honest or not. If are, fine, if not, every cent will go into the Treasury, even the money gotten from their real property (houses, businesses, overseas accounts, jewelry, heirlooms). Leave them with the clothes on their backs. Some will escape, but, will not be allowed to export anything from overseas factories to the US, from their new homes in the slums of Bangladesh.
But, I've decided to fight for my country. Guess you could say I'm a Patriot. I'm beginning to wonder how many of me are left? Too many, keep it pretty (for me), keep it cheap (for me), I need health insurance, don't care about those lower than me in financial security (just me).
When I say fight I don't mean in an election. Too easily stolen now a days. I mean with 10million marching armed (under 2nd Amendment rights), on DC, blaring who we are, where we are going, & how it would be good if you came too (under 1st Amendment rights). Some would organize & stay in their state capital to clean it up. Only so many can fit in DC, so it will also be encouraged. Oh, some of our units will encircle the Uber Rich's homes (to protect them from the base, who will be very unhappy they aren't going to get to the top as they thought [wouldn't anyway, too dumb to know it]). Also to keep them from leaving as special prosecutors will be investigating them all to see if they are honest or not. If are, fine, if not, every cent will go into the Treasury, even the money gotten from their real property (houses, businesses, overseas accounts, jewelry, heirlooms). Leave them with the clothes on their backs. Some will escape, but, will not be allowed to export anything from overseas factories to the US, from their new homes in the slums of Bangladesh.
This has to be the statement of the year. It says everything about everyone who's trying to revive the dying coal industry.
"Mr. Reavey likened the industry’s existential crisis to that of tobacco companies in the 1990s. The coal industry, he told executives, had been targeted by a liberal conspiracy of environmental groups, news organizations and regulators. Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground."
"Mr. Reavey likened the industry’s existential crisis to that of tobacco companies in the 1990s. The coal industry, he told executives, had been targeted by a liberal conspiracy of environmental groups, news organizations and regulators. Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground."
2
Wonder how many packs a day he smokes? How much does his wife smoke? Does he let his kids smoke? Does he think everyone should smoke, it's harmless & would help a national commercial enterprise?
If he answers no to any of these, he has the answer to the rightness of the coal industry.
I hope he smokes 10packs a day, his wife 20 (more wrinkles), his kids smoke like chimneys & they have asthma. Then it would be possible to understand that statement. He & whole family are addicts. Addicts can't understand anything, like how coal pollutes. Their brains are rotting. Soon cigs won't be enough, their rotting bodies will start to hurt a lot, & they will get their first script of opioids. Nice thought.
If he answers no to any of these, he has the answer to the rightness of the coal industry.
I hope he smokes 10packs a day, his wife 20 (more wrinkles), his kids smoke like chimneys & they have asthma. Then it would be possible to understand that statement. He & whole family are addicts. Addicts can't understand anything, like how coal pollutes. Their brains are rotting. Soon cigs won't be enough, their rotting bodies will start to hurt a lot, & they will get their first script of opioids. Nice thought.
We must always ask where the profits are going when major American corporations are taking the majority of our manufacturing overseas for cheap labor. Now Trump and Republicans are willing to use federal land to once again promote a coal industry that has suffered a long demise because of market forces (*cheaper oil, etc.).
The profits made from selling the great manufacturing capacity of this country went into the deep pockets of the corpratists and the oligarchs. When they took our manufacturing jobs overseas they didn't even promise trickle down, but instead caused devastation to our American communities.
Let's not repeat corporate America's real goal of promoting these policies to allow profits to stay with corporations and oligarchs so they can be regenerated by Citizens United for political campaign contributions to Republicans.
I remember the start of WWII, which we ultimately won for ourselves and our allies because of conversion of American factories for warfare usage. This possibility no longer exists because greedy corporations have sold out millions of American workers and devastated hundreds of thousands of factories in the US.
God forbid another worldwide war because the corporations no longer produce products that can be easily converted for wartime usage.
The profits made from selling the great manufacturing capacity of this country went into the deep pockets of the corpratists and the oligarchs. When they took our manufacturing jobs overseas they didn't even promise trickle down, but instead caused devastation to our American communities.
Let's not repeat corporate America's real goal of promoting these policies to allow profits to stay with corporations and oligarchs so they can be regenerated by Citizens United for political campaign contributions to Republicans.
I remember the start of WWII, which we ultimately won for ourselves and our allies because of conversion of American factories for warfare usage. This possibility no longer exists because greedy corporations have sold out millions of American workers and devastated hundreds of thousands of factories in the US.
God forbid another worldwide war because the corporations no longer produce products that can be easily converted for wartime usage.
We still have the capacity to supply war materials to our military, feed our military & people with minimal rationing.The difference between WW2 & any other world war now, is that we can't be the industrial base for the good guys (whichever side the repugs decide is the good guys).It is no longer automatic that it would be whatever side Europe &/or England is on. We won't be able to feed their military or citizens.When that war is over, we will not be able, or even want to rebuild even our allies, let alone the losers.You see it now.We, as a country, are against nation building.Even infrastructure that we destroyed.
Europe & England doesn't care that most of the turmoil in the Middle East has been caused by their drawing national lines where they never have been before & splitting warring religious groups up into mixed up countries. Look at the Isle or Ireland.Hundreds of years of religious fighting, because of an arbitrary split & control by England.That didn't work, why did they think it would work in the Middle East?Stupid. Germany did it in Africa.France & Japan did it in Asia.Then beg us to fix everything.No more fixing.We can sell weapons to anyone we want.But, no soldiers, no trainers, just the boxes.Oh full price.Saudis?Double price.NKorea, send over B-1 Bombers to paper the country with our terms. If you want to eat, get medicine, survive, oust your family dictatorship, stop your nuclear program, & condemn your military we will send billions of tons of food & meds.
Europe & England doesn't care that most of the turmoil in the Middle East has been caused by their drawing national lines where they never have been before & splitting warring religious groups up into mixed up countries. Look at the Isle or Ireland.Hundreds of years of religious fighting, because of an arbitrary split & control by England.That didn't work, why did they think it would work in the Middle East?Stupid. Germany did it in Africa.France & Japan did it in Asia.Then beg us to fix everything.No more fixing.We can sell weapons to anyone we want.But, no soldiers, no trainers, just the boxes.Oh full price.Saudis?Double price.NKorea, send over B-1 Bombers to paper the country with our terms. If you want to eat, get medicine, survive, oust your family dictatorship, stop your nuclear program, & condemn your military we will send billions of tons of food & meds.
Coal is the whipping boy of energy generation, and rightly so.
Now, do another story on the massive deleterious effects of natural gas mining, such as the much discussed fracking, but also methane releases during drilling. A study published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences found that methane (20 times worse the greenhouse gas than C02) is being released at between 100 and 1000 times the rate estimated by the EPA.
If you think natural gas is clean energy, think again. What we need is massive immediate government investment in solar and wind, and other alternative sources.
Now, do another story on the massive deleterious effects of natural gas mining, such as the much discussed fracking, but also methane releases during drilling. A study published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences found that methane (20 times worse the greenhouse gas than C02) is being released at between 100 and 1000 times the rate estimated by the EPA.
If you think natural gas is clean energy, think again. What we need is massive immediate government investment in solar and wind, and other alternative sources.
2
On the other hand look what goes into the manufacture of solar cells, and the waste products produced. If you think solar is clean energy, think again.
1
@sjaco What you might want to think about is the renewable non-polluting return for solar. The Sun will shine another 2 billion years. How long will your polluting natural gas hold out?
1
US electricity production is generated, first by natural gas, second by coal. The margin between the two is a few percentage points. Of late, the price of natural gas has become volatile and has increased. Moreover, natural gas may be a lot dirtier than previously thought. So the claim that coal's future is dim is simply speculation. Its future is as predictable as the stock marker. And newspapers are not experts in fuel futures.
2
Thank you for a reasoned comment. It is dangerous to depend on a single source for reliable power generation for that reason price volatility. Solar and Wind are simply not reliable, and require conventional generation to make up for the variations in output.
1
Nothin' like waking up on a Monday morning to read about yet ANOTHER way Trump is ruining this country.
What's he going to bring back next? VHS and tire fires??
This is all so short sighted it is ridiculous. The future, and the jobs, are going to be in clean energy - wind, solar, etc. The federal government needs to invest in training coal miners to work in these industries.
What's he going to bring back next? VHS and tire fires??
This is all so short sighted it is ridiculous. The future, and the jobs, are going to be in clean energy - wind, solar, etc. The federal government needs to invest in training coal miners to work in these industries.
4
Oregon and Washington have resisted the construction of coal ports, not wanting to aid the continued warming and acidification of oceans resulting in further destruction of fish stocks, as well as recognizing the major part coal plays in the disruption of the climate system. Additionally, there are issues with large numbers of miles-long trains blocking city intersections, the introduction of coal dust to surrounding communities, and potential disasters at numerous stream crossings.
Most nations understand there are destructive changes occurring and are attempting to shift to greener energy production. The energy industry white house will use U.S. taxpayer funding to improve railroad and port infrastructure in the name of jobs, jobs that will disappear as the demand for coal disappears, leaving taxpayers to continue paying the bills on unused infrastructure.
Jobs in the name of destroying the planet are not a bargain.
Most nations understand there are destructive changes occurring and are attempting to shift to greener energy production. The energy industry white house will use U.S. taxpayer funding to improve railroad and port infrastructure in the name of jobs, jobs that will disappear as the demand for coal disappears, leaving taxpayers to continue paying the bills on unused infrastructure.
Jobs in the name of destroying the planet are not a bargain.
2
The writers of this article need to insert a few more words in their leading statement.
"A business-friendly secretary of the interior has
moved to invigorate a struggling industry, reversing
Obama-era restrictions to help create “wealth and jobs.”...and kill our people
and planet.
"A business-friendly secretary of the interior has
moved to invigorate a struggling industry, reversing
Obama-era restrictions to help create “wealth and jobs.”...and kill our people
and planet.
1
Rather than trying to revive what should be a dying industry, we should do what we do for farmers, pay the coal miners not to mine coal. A guaranteed income for the remainder of their lives along with health care. It's the least we can do. Wealth and jobs won't count for much if the capitalist system of production and consumption destroys the very basis of human existence by slowing consuming the substance of the planet while turning it into a giant waste dump. There seems to be nothing that conservatives want to conserve if it stands in the way of corporate profits.
1
Seems like this is the swamp we were supposed to be draining. Industry special interests have an even larger footprint in this administration. Coal companies have found loopholes to circumvent their true royalty obligations on land that belongs to the American people. Disgraceful.
1
I guess I will be the contrarian here. We have enough coal within our own borders to power our energy need for 200+ years. We don't need to fight a war to get it. The energy requirements of our nation are going up, not down. Until the storage issue is solved, I think it will be but I don't know when, we need a reliable source for the Gigawatts of base load power it takes to run our nation. The recent cancellation of two Nuclear Power Plants has shown that Nuclear Power, while a low carbon power source, is still too expensive for new commercial use. Coal fired power plants are a technology that is well understood and can be brought on line in years instead of decades like Nuclear.
I agree that we need to get off carbon based power as soon as possible. Having said that the technology for us to do that is not yet ready. There may be a gap of 10 - 50 years before this is possible. We need something that will bridge that gap. In the 70's there was a lot of research started to find a way to use coal, oil shale, etc. in an environmentally responsible way. That research was dropped as energy prices fell. I would propose that we revive that research. I would also propose that we give priority to energy storage and fusion research. We desperately need a national energy plan that takes us from where we are now to a low/non carbon future. Coal could be that bridge.
I do not work for the coal industry.
I agree that we need to get off carbon based power as soon as possible. Having said that the technology for us to do that is not yet ready. There may be a gap of 10 - 50 years before this is possible. We need something that will bridge that gap. In the 70's there was a lot of research started to find a way to use coal, oil shale, etc. in an environmentally responsible way. That research was dropped as energy prices fell. I would propose that we revive that research. I would also propose that we give priority to energy storage and fusion research. We desperately need a national energy plan that takes us from where we are now to a low/non carbon future. Coal could be that bridge.
I do not work for the coal industry.
1
Coal is a major source of many products in addition to fuel for power plants.Re energizing the industry based on coal will help many to get employment.Trump should be commended on that issue.
1
Should we tear up our remaining public land, poison our water and pollute the world's air just to continue a declining industry?
Even non-environmentalists should be able to see (in this article) that the 4 million ton increase in coal exports in the latest quarter only produced 400 additional coal mining jobs per month (https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/tab2.txt) because strip mining uses machinery much more than employees.
5 years ago PRB coal sold for $14.50 per short ton. In January 2017 the spot price was $12.40 and by the end of last month it had decreased to $11.28.
Many studies have estimated that the public subsidizes 2 to 3 times the price of coal by not making producers pay for the damage their product creates - in premature deaths, medical treatments of illness, degradation of buildings and soil, reduced crop yields, ecosystem loss and degradation and costs of ameliorating global warming (eg. hotter, wetter weather, more violent storms, rising seas, etc.).
Aside from the PRB the biggest surface coal producers are China, Mozambique, Australia, Russia, and Colombia. Should we compete with them in an industry that is driving prices to the bottom?
This article shows how Ryan Zinke has been bought throughout his public career by oil, gas and coal producers. Congress needs to stop this theft and destruction of our public lands. 4 of the largest mines in the world are in the PRB and the vast majority of the coal reserves they mine are on public land. That's enough
Even non-environmentalists should be able to see (in this article) that the 4 million ton increase in coal exports in the latest quarter only produced 400 additional coal mining jobs per month (https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/tab2.txt) because strip mining uses machinery much more than employees.
5 years ago PRB coal sold for $14.50 per short ton. In January 2017 the spot price was $12.40 and by the end of last month it had decreased to $11.28.
Many studies have estimated that the public subsidizes 2 to 3 times the price of coal by not making producers pay for the damage their product creates - in premature deaths, medical treatments of illness, degradation of buildings and soil, reduced crop yields, ecosystem loss and degradation and costs of ameliorating global warming (eg. hotter, wetter weather, more violent storms, rising seas, etc.).
Aside from the PRB the biggest surface coal producers are China, Mozambique, Australia, Russia, and Colombia. Should we compete with them in an industry that is driving prices to the bottom?
This article shows how Ryan Zinke has been bought throughout his public career by oil, gas and coal producers. Congress needs to stop this theft and destruction of our public lands. 4 of the largest mines in the world are in the PRB and the vast majority of the coal reserves they mine are on public land. That's enough
1
I'll take a wild guess that Mr. Hayes and the other ranchers now suing the government voted for Trump.
3
well ...statistically ...they have jobs ...that don't involve unions or the govt.
So good guess.
So good guess.
Does it not occur to the coal "advocates" that coal is a finite resource? Perhaps they've forgotten (or perhaps never learned) that the California gold rush, for example didn't last forever. I wonder if any CA gubernatorial candidate has promised to bring back CA's gold industry. Just saying.
1
Resource Economics. This is little known study of well, economics applied to resources. Often natural resources such as water, oil, gas, coal, trees, air, etc. We use the Cost Benefit analysis and seek to assign the total costs and benefits to derive a real ratio of benefits to costs - not simply the cost digging something from the ground and how much you can sell it for. I can assure you that those receiving corporate welfare in the form of $0 to low $ lease prices are paying no where near the real costs for the resources that they use which are passed on to us while they derive most of the benefits.
When immigrants from Easter Europe came to this country, were accepted, and established themselves successfully as Americans even in enclaves with like -cultured and like minded citizens, the American coal mines offered them gainful employment and these miners were glad for the jobs. However in the immigrant spirit, their descendants should consider emigrating to countries that still have active coal mines such as Australia, Russia, Germany and So. Africa. Consider Australia, an English speaking country. So many of their young, able-bodied citizens who could find employment in these mines, have left Australia to go East and fight for ISIS. The Australian government, because it doesn't want these hothead citizens back in Australia, has taken away their passports so they can no longer live in Australia. Thus has the country reduced their supply of healthy, able-bodied workers for the coal mines. If similarly physical American workers who are dying to work in coal mines want to do so, go to Australia.
1
Both the Secretary of Interior and EPA administrator are energy industry puppets, who serve corporations not the American people. Human health and the environment will be sacrificed for short term gain of fleeting corporate profits. Like the majority of Trump's actions so far the appointment of industry lackeys to such important positions is wholly immoral, and a total disservice to the American people.
1
A second point that should be made is the arrogant cluelessness behind the
assertion that the extractors should not have to pay very much for
the opportunity to exploit public lands for private profits. If the public
owns the land, which it does, then its agents in government who act in the public's interests need to defend the public interest first not last.
In particular, they cannot allow the costs to the public of increased extraction be borne by the public alone. Industry should not get something of value
and pay little for it. A fair, transparent, and systematic cost benefit analysis must be made before more extraction begins, not after. This includes the higher costs of exposure to greater pollution of water and air, as well as the resulting economic damage to other industries. Those higher costs must then be paid principally by those responsible for creating the problems in the first place, not the citizen or non extracting industries.
That is not what a liberal big government does. It is what a good government does.
The blind hubris implicit in feeling completely justified in ignoring this essential ethical principle is endemic within certain sectors of the society, and is surely an underlying reason why our society cannot extract itself from its current dysfunctional state.
Unfortunately the current Secretary of Interior chooses to celebrate his blind
embrace of this hubris which means that he must be opposed at each
and every step.
assertion that the extractors should not have to pay very much for
the opportunity to exploit public lands for private profits. If the public
owns the land, which it does, then its agents in government who act in the public's interests need to defend the public interest first not last.
In particular, they cannot allow the costs to the public of increased extraction be borne by the public alone. Industry should not get something of value
and pay little for it. A fair, transparent, and systematic cost benefit analysis must be made before more extraction begins, not after. This includes the higher costs of exposure to greater pollution of water and air, as well as the resulting economic damage to other industries. Those higher costs must then be paid principally by those responsible for creating the problems in the first place, not the citizen or non extracting industries.
That is not what a liberal big government does. It is what a good government does.
The blind hubris implicit in feeling completely justified in ignoring this essential ethical principle is endemic within certain sectors of the society, and is surely an underlying reason why our society cannot extract itself from its current dysfunctional state.
Unfortunately the current Secretary of Interior chooses to celebrate his blind
embrace of this hubris which means that he must be opposed at each
and every step.
2
Absolutely fascinating. One can be reasonably certain that ''black lungs'', also known, previously, by the obsolete and neolithic term ''ultramicroscopico-silico-pneumoconiosis'', can become an issue, among other things. But, when the coalmine workers, heaven forbid, become afflicted with this horrendous lung disease, ACA might cover their health needs, thank heavens. This regressing back to the antediluvian methods of energy production on a large scale, is, for sure, lamentable.
When newer and more environment-friendly methods of energy sources are receiving rapt attention by the progressive-minded persons and scientists alike, coal energy extraction itself is fraught with, possibly and potentially, logistical, political, geological, ecological, and health conundrums, with not so pleasant repercussions. It is quite conceivable that this has the recipe for skyrocketing of healthcare costs.
There is a particular method called ''strip mining'' and it has widespread implications of contaminating the ecosystems, the drinking water, and leaving the arable land as a hardscrabble piece of earth. The list might go on and on, but who is listening?
When newer and more environment-friendly methods of energy sources are receiving rapt attention by the progressive-minded persons and scientists alike, coal energy extraction itself is fraught with, possibly and potentially, logistical, political, geological, ecological, and health conundrums, with not so pleasant repercussions. It is quite conceivable that this has the recipe for skyrocketing of healthcare costs.
There is a particular method called ''strip mining'' and it has widespread implications of contaminating the ecosystems, the drinking water, and leaving the arable land as a hardscrabble piece of earth. The list might go on and on, but who is listening?
1
You know, even if clean coal could be developed, it would cost more to make it clean than to use has or oil or solar. Why bother - unless it's to make coal companies richer. As the article says, it isn't for use in the US - we have plenty of energy without it. All we get out of it is a marred landscape, polluted water and staggeringly expensive health problems for those who work in the industry. Oh yeah and a lot more money for people who really don't need it. As for coal miners, I suspect that it costs more for this health care than they'll ever make from their mining jobs. If they can't or won't retrain for new jobs, let's just give the money to them directly. At least they'll be healthy enough to enjoy it.
96
It is disgusting how the Republicans and Trump are. It's hard to believe what they stand for, and what they "believe in". Who is actually supposed to buy or use this coal? Are the Republicans going to decimate the entire country just to please their uber-rich friends?
7
Disgusting? Because they want to reverse the economic violence that Obama and the "progressives" have done to communities that depend upon coal for their livelihood? What is truly disgusting is those who desire to inflict economic violence on people based on the belief in climate apocalypse prophecies.
You want to believe in silly prophecies fine but you have no right to impose your beliefs on others - first amendment, separation of church and state.
You want to believe in silly prophecies fine but you have no right to impose your beliefs on others - first amendment, separation of church and state.
1
The rich vs. poor argument no longer applies. It never did, other than in the imagination of leftists.
"The coal industry, [Mr. Reavey] told executives, had been targeted by a liberal conspiracy of environmental groups, news organizations, and regulators. Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground.”
It’s an apt comparison. When the cigarette industry “stood its ground,” it was to lie about the dangers of smoking. The coal industry does the same. But it’s worse. People can choose not to smoke. The planet cannot choose not to warm when greenhouse gasses are produced from fossil fuels. The planet will suffer the same fate as cigarette smokers who couldn’t quit.
It’s an apt comparison. When the cigarette industry “stood its ground,” it was to lie about the dangers of smoking. The coal industry does the same. But it’s worse. People can choose not to smoke. The planet cannot choose not to warm when greenhouse gasses are produced from fossil fuels. The planet will suffer the same fate as cigarette smokers who couldn’t quit.
90
I would add that this is also a ripoff of land that belongs to all of us. It is being given to a few at a very low price. What most of us will get is just the pollution and health consequences.
4
#MAGA means nothing - no one wants to revive or invest into dying industries. I will not invest 1 cent into coal mining or nuclear power plants but will invest into green energy. I tried to diversify and invest into oil companies and got burned pretty good. New ways of energy generation, recovery, and storage are the way to go. Fossil fuel and nuclear power plants are dying.
19
The Pendulum Swings . The two most populated countries on the planet are rapidly moving towards renewable energy sources using technologies and knowledge invented / discovered in the West . This Eastern Industrial Revolution begins to move like a Juggernaut. Meanwhile America seeks to once more bury it's head , like a mole, not only in the old coal mines . The " New American Industrial Giants " plan to dig the heritage land sites that reflect the beauty , poetry and glory of what used to be the American Soul. Weep.
it will be a slow and painful death, alas.
one day soon, though, we will come to realize the waste of burning fossil fuels which will be recognized as chemical treasure troves for creating all kinds of new materials, drugs, and products yet to be imagined, as well as vital for lubricants.
the human race will slap its collective forehead and wonder, "How could we have been so stupid as to burn these resources when they are so much more valuable in other ways?"
horses passed into history, and with them collateral jobs such as the men pushing barrels around town, sweeping up the droppings. one day pretty soon coal, oil, and gas will become the same kind of memory.
Trump and Zinke's pals are trying to cling to the past, to what they know, for money... but you can't stand in the way of progress. they will all become buggy whips and those tools people used to close up their high buton shoes.
America needs to look forward, not backward.
one day soon, though, we will come to realize the waste of burning fossil fuels which will be recognized as chemical treasure troves for creating all kinds of new materials, drugs, and products yet to be imagined, as well as vital for lubricants.
the human race will slap its collective forehead and wonder, "How could we have been so stupid as to burn these resources when they are so much more valuable in other ways?"
horses passed into history, and with them collateral jobs such as the men pushing barrels around town, sweeping up the droppings. one day pretty soon coal, oil, and gas will become the same kind of memory.
Trump and Zinke's pals are trying to cling to the past, to what they know, for money... but you can't stand in the way of progress. they will all become buggy whips and those tools people used to close up their high buton shoes.
America needs to look forward, not backward.
1. Coal. 2. Natural Gas. 3. Nuclear. All the rest add up to less than 3 percent of energy production.
Elimination of the use of coal and other CO2 producing energy sources should be a mainstay of US energy policy no matter who controls Congress or the White House. Alternative, cleaner energy sources are readily available at comparable prices and there is no need to tear up OUR federal lands so a few industrialists, their lobbyists, and some soul-selling Congresspersons can benefit financially while the rest of us can only stand by and watch our lands being destroyed.
Trump and his environment-destroying appointees need to resign in the public interest. It would be wonderful indeed if Trump supporters understood that what he is SAYING on TV is unimportant and is only fodder for masses. Rather It is what he is DOING to our nation that must be everyone's focus. As a nation we are sitting in a most dangerous place. Even replacing current political conditions in Washington with a SWAMP would be an improvement.
Trump and his environment-destroying appointees need to resign in the public interest. It would be wonderful indeed if Trump supporters understood that what he is SAYING on TV is unimportant and is only fodder for masses. Rather It is what he is DOING to our nation that must be everyone's focus. As a nation we are sitting in a most dangerous place. Even replacing current political conditions in Washington with a SWAMP would be an improvement.
195
That is so inaccurate--so called "green" energy sources are NOT available at comparable prices. In fact, these sources are much more expensive, and if not for Federal subsidies, could not even be considered in the same ballpark as fossil fuels. That's the 600 lb. gorilla in the room nobody wants to talk about---"green" energy is TOO EXPENSIVE to be attempted for the masses!
2
Try sampling right wing talk radio each day.
Wrong Mike dead wrong and most of all UNINFORMED techically
In the 'good old days' when 'conservatives' actually practiced conservation REAL MEN like Senator Barry Goldwater ( Grand Canyon) Teddy Roosevelt (National Parks) appreciated the wild and magnificent landscapes of our country so much they went ALL OUT to preserve and SAVE them for future generations. What a difference from the Republicans of today who call themselves 'conservative' but would rather sit in front of a T.V. screen or play golf on a manicured lawn then ride a horse through wilderness or climb up a mountain top. Nope. These new fangled Republicans seem more than happy to give the 'okay' to 'strip' away every last acre left of OUR American wilderness no matter what the cost to future generations. In my estimation these are not REAL MEN nor 'conservatives' but tragically, for America, they are REAL wimps.
37
But this is Genius! Make America Great Again! What's he going to do next? Bring back the steam engine, the telegraph and the trolley car?
52
And big black dial phones on the table in the hallway. Smart phones are also a liberal plot to hurt the working class white guy.
In addition to destroying 241 years of democracy and the pursuit of decency and goodness, Trump is wrecking the environment and raping our public lands.
36
Trump's been in office only about six months so far. wait until you see what he has in store for us in his next exciting episodes!
but first, a three week golf vacation in glorious New Jersey, poster state for industrial pollution. Trump is old enough to remember the Passiac River on fire and the ground under the Skyway smoking and smoldering for decades like the very fields of Hell.
but as long as it's okay for building new Chinese financed condos, it's all good, right?
but first, a three week golf vacation in glorious New Jersey, poster state for industrial pollution. Trump is old enough to remember the Passiac River on fire and the ground under the Skyway smoking and smoldering for decades like the very fields of Hell.
but as long as it's okay for building new Chinese financed condos, it's all good, right?
I guess we deserve it. A whole bunch of DEMS sat on their butts and didn't vote. Elementary my dear Watson.
Germany has trains in operation that emits only water. They will be powered in just a few years 100% by alternative energy. We have leadership that wants to dig for coal? What sort of madness is this, while the Antarctic is splitting up and falling into the sea? We should have every last coal miner in this country retrained on the government dime to build solar, and wind farms. To build high speed rail and monorail, to fix the pipes in Flint and the subways in NyCity. Those are jobs that we need.
68
Sec. Zinke I don't believe looked at both sides of the balance sheet: more like he saw one side that said "profits" and felt that was a go.
10
Under Trump and republicans the internal combustion engine would have been shelved to preserve blacksmith jobs and livery stable entrepreneurs.
15
Perhaps that would have been a better solution, because the automobile as a means of public transportation is undoubtedly one of our worst, least efficient inventions.
Ron Zinke's lack of love for conservation is becoming well known, and he runs the Department of Interior, but a huge part of the nation's lands in the West and the East are National Forests, under the department of agriculture, under Sonny Perdue. His background does not forecast good intentions for the National Forest Service. His last name, Perdue, means "lost" in French. I hope it is not a signal of what he wants done to the National Forest lands.
5
This makes me want to throw up.
21
You'd think the coal miners would want a better future for their kids than black lung...
19
... but you would be wrong almost all the time.
it is easier to cling to the known than to imagine the unknown; that takes effort and courage. ask a scientist.
it is easier to cling to the known than to imagine the unknown; that takes effort and courage. ask a scientist.
1
There is declining market for this so absolutely no reason to tear up our public lands to get it. This is insanity at its highest.
22
Black lungs, black air, black water and black land do not matter!
Except in the People's Republic of China.
Except in the People's Republic of China.
10
I hope Mr. Hayes didn't vote for trump.
5
I have said this before, and will state it again: confirmation hearings are a sham. They will tell you what you want to hear, just to get over the confirmation process, and then start their destructive agenda.
And as we have said before: elections have consequences. Far reaching consequences.
And as we have said before: elections have consequences. Far reaching consequences.
17
Whats next under the trump administration federally subsidizing chastity belts?
14
I think the Trump administration may have crossed the line, a red line put in place by citizens who want to preserve and protect our land and water. He really should reconsider this type of agenda before it can't be reversed.
5
Natural gas is far cheaper than coal so market forces will dictate that not much more coal is burned before vs. after the change in regulations.
Left out of the discussion, but very important, is the number of working class jobs that are expected to be created by these changes.
Moreover, if the article authors and the NYT were truly, truly serious about green house gas emissions, they would protest NY Gov Cuomo's future closing of the Indian Point nuclear power plant that powers one-fourth of NYC and Westchester County or the equiv. of 2.5 million people. Undoubtedly, carbon-based fueled electric will replace it.
There are other nuclear power plants throughout the nation that are being prematurely closed. Let's focus on reversing the imminent closings instead of being concerned about coal which for economic reasons can't compete with natural gas.
Left out of the discussion, but very important, is the number of working class jobs that are expected to be created by these changes.
Moreover, if the article authors and the NYT were truly, truly serious about green house gas emissions, they would protest NY Gov Cuomo's future closing of the Indian Point nuclear power plant that powers one-fourth of NYC and Westchester County or the equiv. of 2.5 million people. Undoubtedly, carbon-based fueled electric will replace it.
There are other nuclear power plants throughout the nation that are being prematurely closed. Let's focus on reversing the imminent closings instead of being concerned about coal which for economic reasons can't compete with natural gas.
3
"Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes;" In a country that "values life," you'd think that would be a selling point for clean energy. But since the US values profit over lives, the Democrats and environmentalists need to get off this "value of lives" nonsense and sell the profit angle: the future is renewable energy.
10
This is a problem for the western states and the people there should be the ones to solve it - and live with the consequences.
1
Unfortunately, the "consequences" don't just stay where the problem is generated. The "consequences" spread through the air and water and the rest of us have to live with it!
1
Coal companies can dig all they want on federal lands other than the american taxpayer who is going to pay for it?
1
All this, it seems, will not bring coal mining back to West Virginia or to the western part of commonwealth of Virginia....?
3
The people who backed the election of Mr. Trump will inevitably be the ones most hurt by the policies being put in place by Secretaries Zinke and Pruitt. Eventually, the coal industry will fail and the advanced countries will make the switch to other sources of energy.
It is particularly disturbing to realize that this country is willing to pollute the air and water of other nations by shipping coal to them, much in the same way as our tobacco companies are willing to sell their products to other people throughout the world, eventually poisoning the users of these products.
It is particularly disturbing to realize that this country is willing to pollute the air and water of other nations by shipping coal to them, much in the same way as our tobacco companies are willing to sell their products to other people throughout the world, eventually poisoning the users of these products.
8
Meanwhile China is cornering the market on Solar and hydro power equipment that will be powering the world for the next 1,000 years.
45
Funny, that news came out like 5-10 years ago, and yet it still hasn't happened. Solyndra (POTUS Obama's green energy gem!) went belly-up because....wait for it....the market for solar power crashed.
Oh, and you'll have to give up your Environmentally-Friendly card - hydro power is forbidden because it might cause little river animals some hurt feelings. Nuclear power would be great, but environmentalists are against that too. See, environmentalists aren't interested in anything that "powers the world" - they want to abolish all forms of power generation, and send humanity back into the Dark Ages. Literally.
Oh, and you'll have to give up your Environmentally-Friendly card - hydro power is forbidden because it might cause little river animals some hurt feelings. Nuclear power would be great, but environmentalists are against that too. See, environmentalists aren't interested in anything that "powers the world" - they want to abolish all forms of power generation, and send humanity back into the Dark Ages. Literally.
4
Perhaps you need to open up your eyes to what is happening now -the BC wildfire smoke smoke can be seen from space and the smoke is even going down to Seattle-we are on the brink of entering the Dark Ages already if we do not get to grips with reducing our carbon footprints.
8
China throughout its long history has always taken the long view. A thousand years is but a moment in time to their way of thinking. And a slice of chocolate cake doesn't even register on the scale. The Pendulum Swings.
6
Using these public lands for coal mining will creat jobs for tribes like the Crow who are suffering under an employment rate of close to 20 percent in the state of Montana. They are all for this mining. They are rich in land resources but strapped in cash. These people need jobs and using these lands for coal mining will assist them greatly. President Trump promised he would bring back coal mining and he is delivering. This is one of the reasons he was voted into office.
2
Literally tens of jobs created! Woo!
1
Who says Native American tribes want to work in coal mines and destroy themselves as well as their lands at the same time? Solar power and renewable energy are much more befitting of the Native American people. Coal mining may create some jobs but it also creates cancer and other health maladies for those who work and live in its shadow. The object of an economy should be to sustain people, not destroy them. Further, the renewable energy sector is by far the fastest growing job creator in the American economy. It is time for America to grow in the right direction and not permit itself to simply take what appears to be a path to 'greatness' but is not sustainable in any human or healthy way.
3
The Crow and other people who were dependent on coal jobs should be retrained on the sustainable energies that we and the rest of the world are moving towards. Sustainable energy = sustainable jobs
1
I am heartened to read about coal mining’s renaissance under the Trump Administration. For years the Obama Administration did everything in its power to destroy that industry, regardless of the outcome for the millions of hardworking Americans whose livelihoods came from toil in the mines. During the 2008 presidential campaign made it clear how he felt about rural working class Americans. Just as Hillary Clinton called them “deplorable,” Obama chided them for holding on to their Bibles and their guns. Obviously Obama does not understand rural life. Although Donald Trump is a “city slicker,” he has an affinity with rural America; he shares with rural Americans an appreciation for hard work, persistence, and individualism. Qualities which made America the greatest nation on the face of the earth, and qualities which liberals despise. I support the President. I support Trump!
4
No cheaper natural gas killed the coal industry, its called the law of supply and demand.
6
And putin signs your checks.
5
Millions?
There is about 50,000-70,000 miners in the US and about 150,000 secondary businesses that earn from the mining company's indirectly. You're a bit off with your numbers. A lot off.
President Obama wasn't trying to kill off the industry. He was looking forward to the new technologies and the future of energy because coal isn't sustainable.
What made America great in the 20th century was progressing forward with new technologies and new ideas of how to do things better. That stopped when Conservatives like you decided that progress was bad. Coal is dead. Solar and renewables is the future and is what will make America great again.
There is about 50,000-70,000 miners in the US and about 150,000 secondary businesses that earn from the mining company's indirectly. You're a bit off with your numbers. A lot off.
President Obama wasn't trying to kill off the industry. He was looking forward to the new technologies and the future of energy because coal isn't sustainable.
What made America great in the 20th century was progressing forward with new technologies and new ideas of how to do things better. That stopped when Conservatives like you decided that progress was bad. Coal is dead. Solar and renewables is the future and is what will make America great again.
8
What a brain dead policy.... harm our environment with strip mining so that another county can burn coal.
22
Meanwhile, other countries are making laws to make electric cars the only cars and installing high speed rail lines. And here we have the progressive US, making coal great again and lowering CAFE standards for cars. So, America leads in the 19th century and China is leaning toward Denmark in the 21st. Who's winning? Please Mr. Trump, remind me again...
29
Profits and special interest will inevitably drive this country, the people and the world to the brink of oblivion. Apparently we have not learned from our past mistakes. The dependency on fossil fuels is destroying the planet. The saddest part of all is that the alternative choices such as solar energy are being suppressed by an industry trying to make a quick buck.
23
Posters here seem to think that coal mining will take place near The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, when in actuality it will take place in swaths of land where nobody visits, and could be as large as Rhode Island.
Very good policy, as long as it is being done with the same environmental standards that would be required if the mine was being created on private property directly across the street from these federal lands.
Very good policy, as long as it is being done with the same environmental standards that would be required if the mine was being created on private property directly across the street from these federal lands.
3
RE: "as long as it is being done with the same environmental standards"
You DO know who the President is as well as the members of the cabinet right?
You DO know who the President is as well as the members of the cabinet right?
4
"as long as it is being done with the same environmental standards ..."
What has DT, or any Repub, ever said that makes you think that will be the case? They are working furiously to undo environmental regs. They care only about profits.
What has DT, or any Repub, ever said that makes you think that will be the case? They are working furiously to undo environmental regs. They care only about profits.
6
Ok, pollyanna, do you think zinke or trump will pay any attention to those pesky regulations.
2
Where else but on government lands can coal be revived? On private lands, the owner might ask for market prices, and on private lands, there's a neighbor who might object to watertable pollution and nuisance and a state that might demand remediation of a strip mine.
But a Trump government will give away mining rights cheap and not complain about pollution or environmental degradation. It's a huge subsidy to keep coal competitive.
But a Trump government will give away mining rights cheap and not complain about pollution or environmental degradation. It's a huge subsidy to keep coal competitive.
18
Wait until the Grifter opens golf courses on public land and the Family rakes in the cash!
3
This a country which cuts thousands of pine trees for a ritual, namely to ornament pine trees with lights and Christmas presents which has absolutely nothing to do with Christianity. Coal mining is the same thing, cutting the remnants of the forests which existed millions of years ago. Let us also stop cutting pine trees for the Christmas!
7
Moronic argument. Cutting farmed tress that just get replanted vs strip mining.
6
Psssst.....tree farms. They're a thing. Coal farming, not so much.
6
And you've never heard of Christmas Tree farms where trees are grown for that precise purpose - Christmas Trees to be farmed down the road?
FYI that's where all those cut trees come from. My father-in-law, a Forestry Engineer, was in that precise business.
FYI that's where all those cut trees come from. My father-in-law, a Forestry Engineer, was in that precise business.
2
This administration couldn't be more backwards. Thermal coal has no future, and anyone hoping or thinking otherwise is delusional. I've worked in the industry and I understand the fears of 50-year-old miners facing career change; however, part of being a responsible adult is to face facts and devise a plan of action. Hope is not a course of action.
32
Destroying our public lands and environment for short-term profit is like burning the furniture to heat the house. It is unsustainable, dangerous and, in the long run, will leave us poorer in every way.
29
So glad NYT used a cattle rancher - whose lobbyists get him grazing rights pretty much for free - to contrast a coal miner - whose lobbyists get him mineral rights pretty much for free.
Neither should get these non-rights for free. Both should be, and should have been, forced to purchase the land outright. But both wanted something for nothing - a policy that the Left (Democrats, Liberals, Progressives) champions.
Neither should get these non-rights for free. Both should be, and should have been, forced to purchase the land outright. But both wanted something for nothing - a policy that the Left (Democrats, Liberals, Progressives) champions.
4
With a $20 trillion debt, can the Federal government afford to own an area six times the size of CA? Unless I am mistaken, very little of that land is National Parks, Forests, etc. The Left simply does not like energy companies.
1
I suspect the real issue here is that The Left dislikes the thoughtless polluting of our planet Earth slowly killing everything in its path.
Climate change has been happening since it's beginning. The real issue is the fact that this change is now taking place at lightening speed and Earth's inhabitants will perish because we can't adjust as quickly as this change is occurring.
Climate change has been happening since it's beginning. The real issue is the fact that this change is now taking place at lightening speed and Earth's inhabitants will perish because we can't adjust as quickly as this change is occurring.
Nobody likes pollution.
Meanwhile the US has almost stopped building safe clean nuclear power plants. Given the existing very extensive power distribution system, nuclear is the only carbon-free drop-in replacement for large coal-fired power plants. Uranium is cheap so nuclear plants are cheap to operate, but they are rather more expensive to build than new natural gas-fired plants. Apparently it just isn't worth paying a few percent more for electricity to save the Earth.
6
Like the nine billion dollar fiasco in South Carolina?
Anything can be done stupidly. If you want to see how to do it correctly, look at France.
Well, when you stand among coal miners, as Trump did last week in West Virginia, and take pride in asking them if they've seen any Russians lately, we might have some insight here.
11
The fact is that there will be no new coal fired power plants build and the old ones will slowly close. That will not change regardless of what Trump do. Coal is not competitive and will not become competitive again. Yes we may be able to sell some abroad but coal is also becoming uncompetitive there - and we have huge transportation costs to move all that coal across the oceans. There may be a few low hanging fruits of public lands exploitation to be picked by predatory capitalists, but in the medium run coal is dead, and the people who don't understand that will just hurt themselves.
14
Unfortunately, the tobacco analogy would probably make sense in Kentucky.
3
Learning disability may be the only thing explaining Republicans inability to acknowledge the obvious.
Zenke and Trump exist in a absurdist culture totally divorced from reality. Light years away from sanity where facts and truth are shared alike.
Bottom line; these people are robbing the worlds future.
Zenke and Trump exist in a absurdist culture totally divorced from reality. Light years away from sanity where facts and truth are shared alike.
Bottom line; these people are robbing the worlds future.
10
If a person sells their birthright for a mess of pottage, they accept some trivial financial or other gain, but lose something much more important. That's not the case here, though. More accurately, the people's birthright is being sold off because of the greed of a few.
10
After this is all over and the damage has been done to both our environment and our economy and Trump has gone down officially to have been our worst president who caused our country to loose all respectability in the world, there is only one question to be answered: Where were you while all of this was going on and why didn't you stop him?
14
My God, are Trump and Zinke not totally destroying America?
How about SOLAR and WIND development?
How about SOLAR and WIND development?
14
This Mr. Reavey needs to have his finances looked into by law enforcement, IRS, etc. If he lies this much to the public, I can't imagine what he's getting away with privately...
5
This is what happens when you have myopic president leading a bunch of "anything for a buck" Republicans. Generations have worked to protect this land and now it gets raped. There is no such thing as "Clean Coal" or any kind of coal that does not harm the environment. We are no alone in the world thanks to all the "Trumpets".
8
Trump is stealing to give to the wealthy in the coal industry, who ironically won't need to hire more miners because of increased automation. The insanity makes sense in light of just one human behavior: spite.
8
This coal strategy is nothing more than racist. Coal is bad for the environment and the world knows it, even China for Christsake
3
This is totally irresponsible and one-sided move. It is another example of right-wing nut jobs stealing American's property for private profits. The result will not be a "revitalized" industry it will be pollution, scarred earth and greed turned loose. Coal is dying as a fuel. With modern strip mining 10 guys with huge machines obliterate a mountain leaving an ugly landscape and polluted rivers behind.
This is organized THEFT without the consent of the American People.
In the Constitution it says "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process" This land is the property of the people of America. Where is our due process?
This is organized THEFT without the consent of the American People.
In the Constitution it says "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process" This land is the property of the people of America. Where is our due process?
17
Yeah, "wealth and jobs." A small handful of jobs for a few workers and a great deal of wealth for his cronies.
6
Public lands do not belong to Zinke nor to industry -- hands off! Or, is this the destroy ALL administration? After all, gross-profit business subsidzed by the American taxes is the only standard that remains. United States of Corporate America -- all hail.
5
Just how many people does the highly mechanized strip mining coal industry employ, and where do its profits go? This is certainly not a human or environmentally sustainable industry, so once they have done their damage--their permanent damage--they are gone but the destruction remains. Since when is this responsible use of public lands?
New York Times, how about doing a spread on the legal controversy concerning construction of the massive deep water port on the fishing grounds of the far northwest coast (Bellingham, WA). This is the other crucial link in the coal industry's plan, essential for export to China and other Asian countries.
New York Times, how about doing a spread on the legal controversy concerning construction of the massive deep water port on the fishing grounds of the far northwest coast (Bellingham, WA). This is the other crucial link in the coal industry's plan, essential for export to China and other Asian countries.
25
Take a step back and take a look at where the approaches taken by both sides are wrong.
Part 1
First, the 12.5% tax should be based upon the market value (the commodities world market) at 12:00 AM EST each day a transaction is processed. There should be no exemptions no matter how much power the applicable company executives have over those in office. Second, the world market is not the US market and to think that our supply of coal is affecting the world’s use of this substance is silly. It the world is still burning coal we should try to take at least a part of that consumption market. Our supply will not affect the consumption. Third, the prohibition logic used by so many where the suppliers are held responsible for the consumption of their products is wrong. Remember how the Feds tried to go after the suppliers of alcohol during the prohibition era and today try to go after the suppliers of the illicit drugs? The US Government has spent a lot of the taxpayer’s money and continues to fail addressing the real problem and that is the consumption side of the issue. When demand drops the suppliers will always have to give in and will make less or like the buggy whip manufacturers before automobiles were produced were successful and made money but soon afterwards made very little and all had to go out of business.
Part 1
First, the 12.5% tax should be based upon the market value (the commodities world market) at 12:00 AM EST each day a transaction is processed. There should be no exemptions no matter how much power the applicable company executives have over those in office. Second, the world market is not the US market and to think that our supply of coal is affecting the world’s use of this substance is silly. It the world is still burning coal we should try to take at least a part of that consumption market. Our supply will not affect the consumption. Third, the prohibition logic used by so many where the suppliers are held responsible for the consumption of their products is wrong. Remember how the Feds tried to go after the suppliers of alcohol during the prohibition era and today try to go after the suppliers of the illicit drugs? The US Government has spent a lot of the taxpayer’s money and continues to fail addressing the real problem and that is the consumption side of the issue. When demand drops the suppliers will always have to give in and will make less or like the buggy whip manufacturers before automobiles were produced were successful and made money but soon afterwards made very little and all had to go out of business.
"...no exemptions no matter how much power the applicable company executives have over those in office."
Son, you haven't been paying attention to the way things work these days.
Son, you haven't been paying attention to the way things work these days.
2
You don't get outside a lot, do you, David Gage? The "prohibition logic" you cite in the case of coal is not to hold the suppliers responsible for the consumption of their products, but to hold them responsible for the damage they do to the land they mine, the air we breathe and the water we drink. Where does that fall in your analysis?
3
Sorry, but the NYT did not add that last part which does hold the land developers responsible and that means the corporate executives of these developers personally responsible for bringing the pits back to a more natural look and environment. However, until we change our personal habits and "we" includes most of the human animals we will not even begin to reverse that which "we" have collectively done to this planet.
Yet the Trump administration* simultaneously is gutting safety protections for coal miners.
Clinton, meanwhile, offered these people free or near-free training and education on clean power like wind turbines, and they would not have had to relocate for the training or for their new jobs. Accordingly, she certainly would have strengthened worker safety.
You really kind of have to hand it to Republicans for convincing people that they should risk their own health and safety just to prove a point to liberals.
What's next? Bringing back cathode ray t.v. just so people who repair them are once again employed?
Good grief. What a confederacy of dunces.
Clinton, meanwhile, offered these people free or near-free training and education on clean power like wind turbines, and they would not have had to relocate for the training or for their new jobs. Accordingly, she certainly would have strengthened worker safety.
You really kind of have to hand it to Republicans for convincing people that they should risk their own health and safety just to prove a point to liberals.
What's next? Bringing back cathode ray t.v. just so people who repair them are once again employed?
Good grief. What a confederacy of dunces.
39
Speaking of dunces, without looking it up on the web tell me what the energy density of coal is. Coal is an energy source to compare it with a tv is just silly.
1
Oh, boy, I see why we're in trouble.
Yes, speaking of dunces, the unit of comparison isn't units of energy; rather, the unit of comparison is the logic that holds that coal is dead, just like cathode-ray t.v., floppy disks, malls, and all other things the market has killed.
Get over it.
Yes, speaking of dunces, the unit of comparison isn't units of energy; rather, the unit of comparison is the logic that holds that coal is dead, just like cathode-ray t.v., floppy disks, malls, and all other things the market has killed.
Get over it.
1
The analogy is bringing back something that we no longer use due to advanced technologies just to bring back a few jobs that can be recouped and increased by retraining on the new technologies. CMS was not comparing coal as an energy source to tvs.
2
This isn't really rocket science. There isn't such a thing as "clean coal". Natural gas and oil is cheaper to produce than mining coal. Why on earth would any corporation ever invest in coal mining when it would cost more? Folks, coal is NOT coming back regardless of what Trump and his flunkies say. Using Federal land for coal mining is in essence, putting the US Government in the coal mining business, which is nothing but a giveaway to the whatever coal industry there still remains. Taxpayers in the long run will subsidized coal mining on Federal land, along with the pollution and damage to our environment. Stop believing the lies of this Administration. Coal is from a bygone era, not coming back, no matter how many times they keep repeating the same lies.
16
This is excellent news.
MAGA in progress!
MAGA in progress!
3
So your comment was a joke, right? Making sure coal miners get greater opportunity for black lung, and death (especially with the relaxing of safety standards) and polluting the air and water not only for themselves but others, instead of training in clean energy technology which the rest of the world is taking off with... which we used to be a leader in before this reactionary government came into power: This is progress? Progress means you go forward, not backward.
3
Nothing better than destroying the country? Is that what you voted for?
1
The trees will appreciate the additional CO2. Perhaps they'll vote for him along with his "human" supporters.
1
Let's just destroy everything to make a buck. Being good stewards of the land, after all, won't help our bottom line. Further, let's rape this land with an industry that is dying, as the rest of the world develops cleaner, more environmentally friendly energy technology while we choke on our coal dust.
That's the American way!
That's the American way!
14
Good. Now this ought to help out McConnell and Ryan's HMOs and Big Pharma. What about coal being toxic don't some people get? How many more people have to die because of idiots who can't admit their living in the past?
Trump brought back 800 coal jobs. What he cannot ever bring back are coal mine owners willing to reopen coal for use in the US. That ship sailed 50 years ago.
Trump brought back 800 coal jobs. What he cannot ever bring back are coal mine owners willing to reopen coal for use in the US. That ship sailed 50 years ago.
11
Orders of magnitude more people die because they don't have access to electricity than die due to the burning of coal. The intangible benefits of coal as a cheap energy source far outweigh the intangible costs.
Access to electricity can be provided by sources *other* than coal! Try being a little more specific about your "tangible" and "intangible" costs! Polluting the air and water is hardly an "intangible" cost.
I hear that there is a rich vein of the black, dirty stuff under the 14th green at Bedminster, and also under the clubhouse at Mar-a-Lago. Time to bring in the heavy equipment and start digging! Think of all the jobs Don-Boy could directly create. MAGA
15
"Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned..."
The good Lord willing.
The good Lord willing.
9
They want to kill coal like they killed tobacco!
In a word, YES!
In a word, YES!
17
Except that coal is dying a natural death. Trouble is, this would only prolong the agony, spread it around, and increase the wealth of the precious few. The miners are the pawns in this mess. The Dems have *got* to reach out to them about training and jobs in other energy industries.....do it NOW and do it LOUD!
Zinke ain't no Montanan. Riding to work on a horse for his first day in office? An actual Montanan would have driven a forty year old International with no second gear and six pack on the front seat.
Don't mistake where he claims residency as having any skill, aptitude or interest in preserving the environment. He's now a corporate shill and soulless vacillator to the immoral one in the Oval Office. He should just move to D.C. permanently.
Don't mistake where he claims residency as having any skill, aptitude or interest in preserving the environment. He's now a corporate shill and soulless vacillator to the immoral one in the Oval Office. He should just move to D.C. permanently.
21
Classic jar head who couldn't pass an IQ test. Montanans are ashamed of him except for the backwoods uneducated morons who elected our Fake President.
1
We really need to educated the voters in rural America. Look at gerrymandered maps and infiltrate republican districts with knowledge.
In 2011 the US EPA estimated the benefits
and costs of the Clean Air Act, a law which
regulates emissions of sulfur dioxide, oxides
of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and par-
ticulate matter in the United States. The
EPA calculated that the ratio of health care
cost savings to compliance costs was 25:1
(40)
in 2010. This means that for every dollar
spent complying with the Clean Air Act, twenty-five dollars were saved in health care costs due to lower disease burden, including a reduction in premature deaths, and cases of bronchitis, asthma, and myo- cardial infarction.(40)
In 2011 the US EPA estimated the benefits
and costs of the Clean Air Act, a law which
regulates emissions of sulfur dioxide, oxides
of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and par-
ticulate matter in the United States. The
EPA calculated that the ratio of health care
cost savings to compliance costs was 25:1
(40)
in 2010. This means that for every dollar
spent complying with the Clean Air Act, twenty-five dollars were saved in health care costs due to lower disease burden, including a reduction in premature deaths, and cases of bronchitis, asthma, and myo- cardial infarction.(40)
6
One would have to be a fool to believe an estimate from the EPA.
Here's the problem with coal. It's not renewable, it takes lots of water, nobody wants coal ash buried in their backyard, the only clean coal is on the ground. I don't think it has much to do with Obama war on coal, Federal regulations, Federal Bureaucrats, tree hungers, or those who breath air or drink water.
5
Under Trump, U.S. Lands are being carved up for private profit. The greed of these CEO's who have been looking at these protected mountains and rivers and seen $ signs laying fallow. Their patience has now been rewarded by Trump.
All other considerations have been put aside for the mighty dollar. Greed is one thing Trump understands completely.
All other considerations have been put aside for the mighty dollar. Greed is one thing Trump understands completely.
15
When short-sighted people are willing to exploit resources irresponsibly and not permanently commit to protecting our air, water, temperature, wildlife habitat, and, in some cases (think WVa mountain-top removal and creek-bed filling from erosion), natural land formations that can never recover, then they have lost their way and often take the rest of us with them.
Is nothing sacred or should we destroy it all for the sake of a dollar versus coming up with smarter ways to take care of the Earth's peoples and creatures?
Is nothing sacred or should we destroy it all for the sake of a dollar versus coming up with smarter ways to take care of the Earth's peoples and creatures?
292
And we're not even the ones getting the dollars.
3
I'm from West Virginia, and I haven't been home for more than 15 years because the sight of mountaintop removal traumatizes me. And I'm not using that word "traumatizes" flippantly--it's like visiting your home after it's been devastated in a natural disaster, except that people, like pillaging barbarians, did it on purpose so they could make money off something you love.
2
It isn't for the sake of a dollar or they'd find something profitable for miners to do. It's worse. They are doing this to bait liberals. No one wants coal anymore, the market has spoken but conservatives don't want to listen. It's what your mother called cutting off your nose to spite your face. The key word to those who drink the Republican cool aid is spite. How else to explain that a large chunk of Americans are siding with the Russians against their fellow Americans?
Republicans aren't patriotic. Maybe they never really were. Maybe it was all elaborate flag pin festooned "branding."
Republicans aren't patriotic. Maybe they never really were. Maybe it was all elaborate flag pin festooned "branding."
2
We are going to open up environmentally sensitive areas to coal mining so coal can be exported to Asia where it gets burned. Then the toxins from that burning get carried by the prevailing winds back to North America. All so a few individuals can profit and make large contributions to the GOP. Further, why are we opening up more mines if coal companies are going bankrupt do to a lack of demand. This is short-sighted convoluted thinking that surely has nothing to do with making America great again.
18
If memory serves, Harding allowed Standard oil to drill on Federal lands (Teapot Dome) as well, that did not end well for Harding. People who fail to remember history are forced to relive it.
16
Humans do not have the right to destroy the environment that we and all species require to live and have meaningful existence. This is beyond immorality it is life threatening and violent. It is approaching the time for insurrection and defensive violence. The powerful few do not have the right to steal the necessities of life from the many to profit themselves.
6
Sooner or later, a dirtier and darker sequel to the Teapot Dome scandal will erupt from the Trump kleptocracy.
Republican crooks simply cannot resist an opportunity to steal hundreds of millions from the taxpayers.
Republican crooks simply cannot resist an opportunity to steal hundreds of millions from the taxpayers.
15
The problem is not just that the federal government is letting this coal be mined, it is that it had been "selling" the public resource at a give-away prices through what amounted to legalized collusion between the BLM and the coal operators. The Obama administration had sought to implement some remedies, and now Trump is turning it back to what amounts to legalized corruption -- it's as if the Teapot Dome Scandal is now legal.
A second terrible problem is that while the contracts specify reclamation bonds, the companies are permitted to "self bond" -- worthless if the company goes bankrupt ... as many are today.
See here for more:
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2016/10/04/145320/...
A second terrible problem is that while the contracts specify reclamation bonds, the companies are permitted to "self bond" -- worthless if the company goes bankrupt ... as many are today.
See here for more:
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2016/10/04/145320/...
11
My house was built in 1921. It has an enclosed coal bin in the basement and a window on the porch side where the coal was poured in. It is a reminder that people eagerly converted their old coal furnaces to natural gas or oil because of the labor and the pollution that came with coal. When citizens of a state allow their mountain tops to be blown to smithereens and the carcinogenic waste to pollute their streams and rivers in order to save a few coal-mining jobs, it's time for those at the Huntington, WV Trump rally to turn off Fox news, stop salivating over a Manhattan billionaire and figure out a way forward that doesn't involve Coal Barons reducing a populace to serfdom.
12
To me, the most troubling aspect is the promise of free money to the Crow Nation in return for extraction rights to Cloud Peak. It's almost like winning the lottery; the Crows are lucky enough to live on a coal reserve.
How does this free money help the community? From past experiences, most of that money will go to administration. We all know what that means.
Compare this to Kentucky's Governor Matt Bevin requiring poor people to work in order to get Medicaid. Will the Crows require their people to work, in order to share in the windfall? At what jobs? You can't work if their are no jobs. Instead of depending on a private, for-profit company to help our citizens improve their quality of life, our government should be spending our tax dollars in a better, more helpful way. That's what governments are for.
Also, what happens when the coal runs out, or there are no buyers for it? Not to mention if the coal mining destroys the local water supply. They'll be lucky if the coal company pays to fix the damage.
Sounds to me like the coal companies get richer at the expense of society.
How does this free money help the community? From past experiences, most of that money will go to administration. We all know what that means.
Compare this to Kentucky's Governor Matt Bevin requiring poor people to work in order to get Medicaid. Will the Crows require their people to work, in order to share in the windfall? At what jobs? You can't work if their are no jobs. Instead of depending on a private, for-profit company to help our citizens improve their quality of life, our government should be spending our tax dollars in a better, more helpful way. That's what governments are for.
Also, what happens when the coal runs out, or there are no buyers for it? Not to mention if the coal mining destroys the local water supply. They'll be lucky if the coal company pays to fix the damage.
Sounds to me like the coal companies get richer at the expense of society.
12
RE: Mr. Reavey likened the industry’s existential crisis to that of tobacco companies in the 1990s...Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground.
A clearer confession that the origins of the climate denialism movement
come from the tobacco industry efforts to deny smoking's links to lung
cancer is not possible. Big Tobacco showed how unlimited funds
can be used to create doubt and legislative inertia in the face of clear
and convincing evidence. Now Big Coal follows its model.
The fact that no state with access to the Pacific is going to sign on
to the industry's plan for an expanded port should be given more emphasis. One would expect/hope British Columbia's government to feel similarly.
If one were a banker and asked to invest in the expensive expansion discussed in the article, the first question is where the intended market is and
how do you intend to get it there? This will surely reduce access to the capital
needed to fund the folly.
Surely some more coal will be shipped somewhere in this country. Here organized citizen resistance will play a big role in containing the damages
and upping the costs. Suits, state legislative and regulatory opposition,
are all needed. States who pledged to follow Paris can't allow
their utilities to use it without higher costs. States who haven't and
are downwind of the pollution will need to sue on health reasons.
This will increase costs and impede the lunacy.
A clearer confession that the origins of the climate denialism movement
come from the tobacco industry efforts to deny smoking's links to lung
cancer is not possible. Big Tobacco showed how unlimited funds
can be used to create doubt and legislative inertia in the face of clear
and convincing evidence. Now Big Coal follows its model.
The fact that no state with access to the Pacific is going to sign on
to the industry's plan for an expanded port should be given more emphasis. One would expect/hope British Columbia's government to feel similarly.
If one were a banker and asked to invest in the expensive expansion discussed in the article, the first question is where the intended market is and
how do you intend to get it there? This will surely reduce access to the capital
needed to fund the folly.
Surely some more coal will be shipped somewhere in this country. Here organized citizen resistance will play a big role in containing the damages
and upping the costs. Suits, state legislative and regulatory opposition,
are all needed. States who pledged to follow Paris can't allow
their utilities to use it without higher costs. States who haven't and
are downwind of the pollution will need to sue on health reasons.
This will increase costs and impede the lunacy.
5
Coal prices are low, why increase supply? The Obama administration was correct to stop leasing because the leases were not being used. It would be good if the media included this in the article, but far they get better ratings with the "jobs vs. environment" fight. It was far smarter business to restrict supply and wait until prices increased. The Republicans claim to be better at business than the Democrats, but they only prove to be better for corporate lobbies. Once again the GOP proves to be nothing more than charlatans.
5
Zinke is a traitor to conservationists. A real back-stabber, a Benedict Arnold.
6
the trump regime is destroying this country and there is little backbone for the sort of prolonged and determined resistance that is needed. we are becoming as vile as turkey and russia.
13
Americans are worse than the Russians and the Turks. Russia and Turkey never really had established democracies.
The plurality of Americans are wantonly trashing the 200-year-old democratic republic we did not deserve to inherit.
The plurality of Americans are wantonly trashing the 200-year-old democratic republic we did not deserve to inherit.
1
Maybe Trump can bring back coal-fired steam engines to replace our already antiquated railroads while Japan, France, China and the rest of the first world countries race ahead with faster, lighter rail systems. Coal-fired steam engines would create more jobs because we'd be back to having a fireman on the train shoveling coal in to keep the boiler fed. Oh, yeah, and we could employ men to build water tanks so the boilers could be replenished with more water along the route.
Marching back into the past -- one step at a time.
Marching back into the past -- one step at a time.
13
Not "one step at a time."
Republican ruled America is devolving in leaps and bounds.
Republican ruled America is devolving in leaps and bounds.
1
Isn't it scandalous that our corrupt paid off government allows the oil companies to take oil from our land at pennies on the barrel to turn around and sell to us for 2.50 a gallon? Republicans are the best money can buy.
7
This is the only way Republican states can say they create jobs...By polluting the rest of the states that moved light years ahead of them.
Coal is never going to be used for heating and cooling in Trump Tower. When it does, then he can say he created jobs.
Coal is never going to be used for heating and cooling in Trump Tower. When it does, then he can say he created jobs.
1
Good point - if there is profit to be had from public lands, it should be distributed to the public. Allowing only a few to scoop the profits is stealing from the owners of the land.
2
The air, the water, the land belong to everyone. There is not one person on this earth who created any of these jewels. There should not be anyone on earth taking these over for their own moneyed interest. Those who allow this do not believe in God. They believe in men.
3
Zinke, the guy who tried to threaten and bully Alaska's Lisa Murkowski on her healthcare vote. What a guy. A real protector.
Here goes Montana and other places. They'll be installing cities and then turning them into ghost towns when they're done using them, and leaving their messes.
Sound familiar? History in the making. Bad history.
Here goes Montana and other places. They'll be installing cities and then turning them into ghost towns when they're done using them, and leaving their messes.
Sound familiar? History in the making. Bad history.
19
Donald Trump is hell bent to put a thumb in the eye of every environmentalist in this country. Even more troubling, most of what he's doing is counterproductive economically as well. Who is going to buy American coal? As China, Europe and the rest of the world moves toward renewable energy in the 21st Century, our President seems intent on dragging us back to the 19th.
This is making American great?
This is making American great?
19
"A business-friendly secretary of the interior", is excessively generous. How about, just another bought off politician?
20
Bring back the horse and buggy!
Jobs for horses!
Jobs for drivers!
A revived buggy whip industry!
Jobs for horses!
Jobs for drivers!
A revived buggy whip industry!
11
This is such a typical Trumpish Lunacy Scam! There is less and less demand for coal globally, as both societies, governments and businesses learn of the hidden risks. The companies that profit from fossil fuels, in general--both producers and users--due not factor the addition costs of health care, premature death and environmental pollution that they cause. Society is thus, left paying again, after already paying for power, steel etc.
And Trump: he's not only enabling a dying industry to proceed up this dead-end, allowing more and more of our youth to anticipate careers--working in dirty air--and participating in the ruin of some of our most pristine public lands.
Will no place be sacred?
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
And Trump: he's not only enabling a dying industry to proceed up this dead-end, allowing more and more of our youth to anticipate careers--working in dirty air--and participating in the ruin of some of our most pristine public lands.
Will no place be sacred?
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
13
Watched an excellent TV special this weekend about how India and other nations are capitalizing on Tesla's electric car technology. Smart and optimistic leaders, aggressively pursuing plans for the future. Trump is leading the U.S. not into winning, but to losing worldwide.
The most important thing to him is to undo anything Obama did and stick it to the liberals. The people who are cheering him on will lose the most. Very, very disheartening.
The most important thing to him is to undo anything Obama did and stick it to the liberals. The people who are cheering him on will lose the most. Very, very disheartening.
16
India is firing up a new coal-powered electric plant as we speak. There are 1.3 billion people who want air conditioning, and only 10 have it. You cannot provide that with wind and solar.
The Jurassic Period that the White House entered at the beginning of this year clearly knows no bounds. Dinosaurs of various kinds roam its offices and corridors issuing orders that are as outdated as the industries it claims to want to invigorate, industries that began being wiped out years ago by modernization and which have now become largely irrelevant. Coal is one such dinosaur. It should be allowed to continue to fossilize.
4
So Trumpers now are ready for a new economic boom fueling the world fleets of steam boats, steam locomotives, and coal power plants all over the country.
Poor "minors," so gullible and naive. Anyhow, to their trumpish renaissance I would like to offer them a beautiful bridge in Brooklyn, courtesy of Santa Trump (they still believe in him). Of course, all these offers expire at the beginning of the impending impeachment process. By the way, Santa Trump would be moving from the North Pole to Sing Sing where "minors" and assorted deplorables may visit him and his family.
Poor "minors," so gullible and naive. Anyhow, to their trumpish renaissance I would like to offer them a beautiful bridge in Brooklyn, courtesy of Santa Trump (they still believe in him). Of course, all these offers expire at the beginning of the impending impeachment process. By the way, Santa Trump would be moving from the North Pole to Sing Sing where "minors" and assorted deplorables may visit him and his family.
4
About three paragraphs before I'd scrolled to Mr. Reavey's comment, I'd thought to myself how like the tobacco arc coal's story seemed. I thought it in a condemnatory way, then saw Mr. Reavey using it as a rallying cry FOR coal! Holy guacamole, what doesn't he get? (Very interestingly, a 2010 CDC study showed miners have the highest smoking rate of any occupation.)
3
Sure, if you're gonna get black lung you just as soon smoke.
2
Trump is like a chunk of coal in the socks of the planet.
Mmmmmmm, wealth.
Mmmmmmm, wealth.
3
Stephen Hawking said it best...."our greed and stupidity will cause the demise of mankind."
This move by Trump is a good start to that demise.
This move by Trump is a good start to that demise.
13
Bravo, Mr. Trump. Next, let's see if you can bring back the horse and buggy.
6
The next step in the maniac's agenda on public lands will be to commercialize Yellowstone and other national parks, open them to logging and mining, and build trump (lower case "t" is on purpose) hotels and resorts. Watch to see his crooked family become owners of the commercial ventures.
Let's hope he is thrown out of office before he can start ruining the national parks.
Let's hope he is thrown out of office before he can start ruining the national parks.
6
The next step in the maniac's agenda on public lands will be to commercialize Yellowstone
With millions of visitors, it is already commercialized.
With millions of visitors, it is already commercialized.
Last weekend we saw Putin taking the sun in Siberia, bare chested, of course. But at least he was out in and presumably appreciating nature (note: i don't agree with hunting' & fish in' but whatever.) 45 however, spends his leisure time in golf slacks, on not-so-environmental golf courses that require exorbitant amounts of water to maintain. He has no notion of nature, why it should be preserved, or how to enjoy it without ruining it. His limited appreciation of the beauty and grace of our world and its wildlife rears up every day..
5
Well, maybe when your base has shrunk to the 50 thousand, give or take, coal miners, then you kowtow to them and forget the rest of us. Forget clean air. Forget alternative sources, all that liberal mumbo jumbo.
For Trumpites, this makes sense.
For Trumpites, this makes sense.
3
"The coal industry, he told executives, had been targeted by a liberal conspiracy of environmental groups, news organizations and regulators. Coal would suffer the same fate as cigarettes, he warned, unless the industry stood its ground."
The tobacco industry, which has killed millions but made a lot of profit for a few, is a good business model?
"Sally Jewell, a former oil industry engineer (and Interior Sec.)... saw mining companies as a particular problem because they too often left behind polluted mine pits..."
We're up to 13,000 superfund sites (per an earlier article) that we citizens pay to clean up, but more mines and decreased regulations is a good idea?
"... lack of competitive bidding for mining leases: Only 11 of the 107 sales of federal coal leases between 1990 and 2012 received more than one bid,... shortchanged taxpayers tens of billions of dollars."
We all lose a lot, so a few can make more profit?
" 'Our greatest treasures are public lands,' Mr. Zinke said... "
A treasure to those who would use them for generations, or a treasure to mining companies that will profit and move on?
Trump & cronies are pro-profit and pro- campaign contributions. Most other citizens favor health, fair payments, environment and public lands. Politicians of both parties for decades have put together this collection of public lands for all of us. Dismantling large parts of it for short-term profit of a few is un-American. Where are the Trump supporters on this?
10
Tell me it's not insane to rape the public lands, pollute the water & air all to save a dying industry, and at this point 50,000 jobs. The arrogance is astounding. Also the few companies here pay bargain basement fees to do it. And to answer a few comments posted.. Hillary Clinton did propose retraining of mine workers esp in the solar and wind industry, where there is plenty of demand, and is growing fast. She was ridiculed but these same people .... These policy reversals and ending these restrictions make me awfully angry. Why aren't the Democrats ( Schumer ) screaming about this? Stopping it would be a winning issue.
Orange, NJ
Orange, NJ
6
so far, Trump's coal reversal has created 800 new jobs. China is planning on 13 million new jobs as they expand their leadership in hi tech energy. in US, more important that a few billionaires get richer than creation of a whole new segment of middle class. at the cost of lower life expectancy.
11
What is the point? Industry is going technical and using renewable energy mechanisms. The prolonging coal business is a fabricated, for-the-moment consideration that will not really solve anything but only perpetuate the problems coal production actualize.
3
For all of those who keep saying Trump has not been able to do anything since becoming president, here's an ugly refutation. Combining what Trump is doing to the environment and what is he doing re civil rights and education, to name three, and you have what might be termed a "successful" presidency.
4
But remember how Obama disappointingly was in clean coal's pocket?
Anyway, Trump's unfathomable little obsessions are weird, are tough to understand. It's like anybody could look in a newspaper and find a lot of great reasons why it's dumb to support coal, and no real reasons why it's smart or why it's the future. Trump's not a guy who just has to take someone else's word for something. He's a smart enough guy. Who knows why he's supporting this polluting, dying, industry of the past?
You know, support for stuff like this, stuff like pro-coal industry policy, is some person somewhere saying or writing "Coal will create jobs," or "Coal is clean," with no explanation or evidence. Or rather, it's basically Trump himself saying it, and no one else saying it.
Can you believe how many times he's called it "beautiful" coal? It's a crazy presidency.
I hope Trump maybe does something to help save us from some things, but man, I definitely am not on board with this coal stuff.
Anyway, Trump's unfathomable little obsessions are weird, are tough to understand. It's like anybody could look in a newspaper and find a lot of great reasons why it's dumb to support coal, and no real reasons why it's smart or why it's the future. Trump's not a guy who just has to take someone else's word for something. He's a smart enough guy. Who knows why he's supporting this polluting, dying, industry of the past?
You know, support for stuff like this, stuff like pro-coal industry policy, is some person somewhere saying or writing "Coal will create jobs," or "Coal is clean," with no explanation or evidence. Or rather, it's basically Trump himself saying it, and no one else saying it.
Can you believe how many times he's called it "beautiful" coal? It's a crazy presidency.
I hope Trump maybe does something to help save us from some things, but man, I definitely am not on board with this coal stuff.
1
Crime syndicates offer wealth and jobs too.
The question is the magnitude of the downside.
The question is the magnitude of the downside.
13
“Our greatest treasures are public lands,” Mr. Zinke said in a speech. “It is not a partisan issue. It is an American issue.”
If he believed what he says, he wouldn't be ceding a national treasure to special interests intent on turning every "treasure" into a source of profit for the "few" at the expense of the future of the rest of us in the country, and, indeed, in the the world.
Public lands for the PUBLIC not PRIVATE interests!
If he believed what he says, he wouldn't be ceding a national treasure to special interests intent on turning every "treasure" into a source of profit for the "few" at the expense of the future of the rest of us in the country, and, indeed, in the the world.
Public lands for the PUBLIC not PRIVATE interests!
70
Theodore Roosevelt must be turning over in his grave!
Fortunately, Obama set aside more land before the scorched land people moved in.
Fortunately, Obama set aside more land before the scorched land people moved in.
3
Perhaps we should utilize the power of the federal government to bring back the buggy-whip industry or steam-powered autos?
If the Republican ethos is to allow the market to drive demand, why does that reasoning not apply to the coal industry?
I suppose we might reduce our trade deficit with China by selling them some coal from Cloud Peak, except that China is seeking to reduce it's use of coal in favor of more modern methods of energy production.
If the Republican ethos is to allow the market to drive demand, why does that reasoning not apply to the coal industry?
I suppose we might reduce our trade deficit with China by selling them some coal from Cloud Peak, except that China is seeking to reduce it's use of coal in favor of more modern methods of energy production.
11
Very bad move. We are not caring not only our generation but future generations to come as the harm done using coal and atmospheric pollution (not only in this country but all over the world) is not easily reversible. Future generations will talk about us as this stupid country of immigrants which messed up everything. A blacker spot than the coal in the history of this beautiful country.
3
The lack of vision for the future is indeed quite depressing.
On the other hand I have no intention of ever visiting or much less living in any of those backwater states, so go right ahead and ruin yourselves.
Me, me, me, me, me!
On the other hand I have no intention of ever visiting or much less living in any of those backwater states, so go right ahead and ruin yourselves.
Me, me, me, me, me!
3
Air and water pollution tend to travel where ever there is air and water. No one can avoid it.
1
I think I understand both sides. I spent 3 months last summer with a canoe and a back pack,, yet I do not have a problem with strip mining,,, with the provision,,, the land is restored afterward, water quality is as good or better afterward. IF YOU CANNOT DO THAT, THEN DON"T STRIP MINE. And don't take the coal or copper, or oil, and then walk away and leave a mess, and declare bankruptcy so scrape off the clean up bill.
I think that there is a solution. Remove the bankruptcy shield.
I think that there is a solution. Remove the bankruptcy shield.
5
That will never do it, because fundamentally most of these mines cannot come close to paying their reclamation costs out of the revenue they generate. Nobody actually intends to reclaim these mines ... out of their pocket anyway.
This is the fundamental problem of most coal mining -- it simply is nowhere near economic if its externalities are fully costed. Coal sold on the world market is priced by the laxest provider (the country willing to do itself the most damage) -- American miners can rightfully say "if you make us pay for what we do, we are out of business" -- that is the reality.
Coal does so much damage that America would be far better off to just pay the mine workers not to mine coal (even if we could find nothing else useful for them to do). But of course then the Donald Blankenships wouldn't get rich ... and mine workers wouldn't die.
This is the fundamental problem of most coal mining -- it simply is nowhere near economic if its externalities are fully costed. Coal sold on the world market is priced by the laxest provider (the country willing to do itself the most damage) -- American miners can rightfully say "if you make us pay for what we do, we are out of business" -- that is the reality.
Coal does so much damage that America would be far better off to just pay the mine workers not to mine coal (even if we could find nothing else useful for them to do). But of course then the Donald Blankenships wouldn't get rich ... and mine workers wouldn't die.
3
IF selling access to federal lands is creating "wealth", who is assuring that US citizens are getting their share including covering the cost of health & environmental damage?
17
As long people or countries are willing to purchase fuel to serve their interests, there will always be people willing to do anything to extract the energy. Whether it is fracking, off shore drilling, coal, lumber, wind, hydroelectric, etc. These are the people in power. 70% of our town voted to ban fracking a few years ago. It was overturned within a few months by the Texas legislature. Now the same people have national power. Get ready for the byproducts of extracting this energy. It will not be pleasant.
4
What I've become to inured to the greed at the expense of everything and everyone else among such corporations, I continue to be baffled by their non-thoughts of their future generations? Wealth can buffer lots of unpleasantries in the world ... but not clean air or water. Oh wait, the new market for underground gilded-cage bunkers.
2
The world has moved forward from coal. It is no longer a viable source of energy, and the coal industry is as dead as the people and landscape surrounding it. The only people who refuse to accept this are ignorant, greedy and/or conflicted in interest. Instead of helping those left behind, the government has its head in the sand. Welcome to the Trump Administration.
17
The analogy to tobacco is so unintentionally apt that it is almost spooky. Tobacco killed untold numbers of people before it was eventually curbed. Tobacco lobbyists and lawyers fought against public health advocates for years to continue making a profit from dealing death and disease to millions.
Now, the fossil fuel folks, especially the coal companies, are doing the same thing. Profiting from killing and sickening people, especially in Asia, and hastening an environmental catastrophe that will burden our grandchildren and their children for generations to come.
All for what? Filthy lucre.
Now, the fossil fuel folks, especially the coal companies, are doing the same thing. Profiting from killing and sickening people, especially in Asia, and hastening an environmental catastrophe that will burden our grandchildren and their children for generations to come.
All for what? Filthy lucre.
11
Amazingly, at the NYT, North Korea's nuclear threats to the US do not get front page top left column viewing. Coal mining gets top billing, which is more important to the NYT and in line with NYT's liberal progressive agenda.
I am reading "Strange as This Weather Has Been" by Ann Pancake. The book depicts the lives of a coal mining family in West Virginia that live in a hollow under a mountaintop-removal strip mine. The narrations are heartbreak, full of man-made disaster, and highlight the greed of businessmen. It is a wonderful book that helps people that do not live in Appalachia understand how some people have a strong sense of place, that the woods are a special, revered places. It also shows how though people love where they, live they do not understand how their jobs, and economic decision can hurt the environment. I recommend the book, no matter your viewpoint, to help understand what living near these types of mines could be like. I want to then ask you if you want to live there with your children and grandchildren. Do you want your home, the place you have put a lot of time and money, to be in a hollow under a strip mine?
8
They probably lead happier lives than the Cosmopolitans.
T.O. - who are the "Cosmopolitans"?
1
Rochester NY lost 65,000 jobs at Kodak. Maybe these guys can bring back our film jobs.
117
Yeah, Trump can make everybody go back to wretched film cameras. Remember the Instamatic? Remember the totally awful pictures it took?
1
Its not that those things were so "awful" its that they have been replaced by something better. Perhaps there is an analogy for coal as an energy source?
Our city moved on, maybe coal country could move on. President Trump made a point of saying that Upstate NY'rs should move to find jobs, what about West Virginia, does that apply there too? Maybe they need to tax themselves and their wealthy to finance some local job training as an alternative to medicating self pity with opioids.
Our city moved on, maybe coal country could move on. President Trump made a point of saying that Upstate NY'rs should move to find jobs, what about West Virginia, does that apply there too? Maybe they need to tax themselves and their wealthy to finance some local job training as an alternative to medicating self pity with opioids.
1
Hey, Lee! My instamatic took pretty good pictures!
1
The whole idea of trying to use more coal as an energy source, when we are awash in the cleaner Nat Gas (a far less bad alternative even if you don't consider solar, wind, hydro), fits in perfectly with the fact that dinosaurs now "control" D.C.
46
This will be part of trump's legacy. McConnell's (Sen. Coal) as well!
And they say they care about "the American people" and future generations! What hypocrisy.
And they say they care about "the American people" and future generations! What hypocrisy.
2
Coal is still a vital part of the US energy mix and it will continue to be so for decades to come.
1
We should be working to rid ourselves of coal. There is no such thing as "clean coal" as the industry tries to portray it and alternatives is where our efforts need to be. I can't for the life of me understand why the Clown and Chief is so attached to coal.
3
No Alan, it won't -- depending on how many decades "to come" one considers. At present coal does generate about 30% of our electricity, but this is declining very fast, and is very unevenly distributed across the US.
New York state gets less than 1% of its electricity from coal. California gets some similar small (and variable) amount -- all of it blended imported power from the east. Many other states get small fractions.
The reality right now is that nobody can build a new coal-fired power plant economically -- this is why coal is dying. Natural gas and wind-power are cheaper, solar is getting close to being cheaper (and for a residential producer who can pay themselves the retail rate, is much cheaper in good solar-resource areas). This is why these are getting built, and coal-fired plants are not.
One way or another there will be a carbon price; likely within a decade. And when that happens, coal will be dead.
New York state gets less than 1% of its electricity from coal. California gets some similar small (and variable) amount -- all of it blended imported power from the east. Many other states get small fractions.
The reality right now is that nobody can build a new coal-fired power plant economically -- this is why coal is dying. Natural gas and wind-power are cheaper, solar is getting close to being cheaper (and for a residential producer who can pay themselves the retail rate, is much cheaper in good solar-resource areas). This is why these are getting built, and coal-fired plants are not.
One way or another there will be a carbon price; likely within a decade. And when that happens, coal will be dead.
4
This "business-friendly secretary of the interiror" has 1) No interest in the effects of this industry on the environment, and 2) No interst in the effects this industry on peoples's health.
Something that should be taken into consideration in light of the G.O.P. plan to kill the Affordable Care Act, along with the lives of 22+ MILLION Americans.
Something that should be taken into consideration in light of the G.O.P. plan to kill the Affordable Care Act, along with the lives of 22+ MILLION Americans.
19
I am old enough to remember Love Canal. Trump and his merry gang of despoilers are going to have the environmental equivalent of Love Canal multiplied many times over.
The health of millions of people will be compromised, while health care will be cut back. America's patrimony, its national parks and monuments, will be despoiled. All of this in support of a dying coal industry.
Yes, make America great again!
The health of millions of people will be compromised, while health care will be cut back. America's patrimony, its national parks and monuments, will be despoiled. All of this in support of a dying coal industry.
Yes, make America great again!
29
Well, this will help the failing Koch Industries. Too bad the investments aren't going into industries like wind and solar power generation where China is already ahead of the US.
44
opop, you can say a lot about Koch Industries but failing isn't one of them. Koch Industries & the Koch Brothers are among the most successful & predatory of the free-market fundamentalists out there. Consider for a moment the number of phony think tanks they fund and indirectly own, or the politicians in league & beholding to them. They help control the narrative of the Republican party and are one of the group of wealthy people who are responsible for Trump. To dismiss the danger they pose is one of the failures of the Democratic Party, like the wealthy industrialists who supported Fascism before & since the second world war they are an intrinsic part of the anti-democratic process we are currently undergoing. Dismiss them at your peril, this isn't about coal and never was, that's just a distraction and tool for political power.
4
Agree with the spirit of your post, but aren't the Kochs primarily in paper products?
Sorry Johnchas, I was being sarcastic.
1
We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work, and that is the issue in this campaign. - John Kennedy
The solution is not to revive the coal industry but to create good jobs in coal country, jobs in renewable energy to start. What would also help is a new equivalent of the Civilian Conservation Corp that would train people, young and mature, for these jobs and help them with any addiction problems.
The solution is not to revive the coal industry but to create good jobs in coal country, jobs in renewable energy to start. What would also help is a new equivalent of the Civilian Conservation Corp that would train people, young and mature, for these jobs and help them with any addiction problems.
18
Steve 725 for President!!!!
Well, donnie boy and his elves will have plenty of coal to put in our stockings this Christmas! All he has to do is put on the Santa suit and a white beard and he's got it nailed - NOT.
Seriously, now he's pitting tribe against tribe, in his effort to "make America great again"? How can we be great when we're at war with each other???
Seriously, now he's pitting tribe against tribe, in his effort to "make America great again"? How can we be great when we're at war with each other???
16
I think the coal industry knows that the writing is on the wall -- In 20 years, the effects of climate change will be so obvious that the restrictions on coal will be draconian. They are trying to cash out quickly -- it's no holds barred for them, and the Trump administration is their lapdog.
20
They're trying to cash out quickly--and the rest of us will have to live with the pollution from mining & burning coal, pay for the cleanup, and regret the loss of public land that not only provides habitat for other species but also acts as a sink for carbon dioxide. Some public lands also generate a lot of tourist money for the community, not just coal barons who drone on about US energy independence while selling us out to the highest foreign bidder for coal.
2
It looks as though the Trump "Save Coal" is all about expanding western surface mining and not West Virginia deep mining jobs.
8
I honestly don't know what else to say about this Administration. Another step backwards. There is no future in coal, even China acknowledges that fact, but here we are telling the world that we don't care about the climate, conservation and renewable energies. Is going to take generations to fix the damage Trump is inflicting to the country.
23
China's relationship to coal use and production is complicated, even while expanding renewable energy production they are expanding coal production and bringing more coal fired power plants on line. China is the largest producer of coal in the world and is encouraging it's use in third world countries to sustain their coal production. To borrow from an old phrase, china doesn't put all its options in one basket including their use of coal.
2
Going into the future we need to understand that we will need all forms of energy to supply the needs of the billions of people that are yet to be born.
That said we need to make sure that all of those forms of energy are environmentally friendly.
People will say that coal can’t be burned cleanly, but what people don’t realize is that 100 years ago German scientist learned how to extract coal oil and make it into a fuel that could be burned in cars and trucks. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Human beings can do amazing things when they need to and in the future we will need all of those amazing things to survive.
I don’t agree with most things that Trump does, but this is one area that we do need, not for the economy but to make sure that the lights don’t go out.
That said we need to make sure that all of those forms of energy are environmentally friendly.
People will say that coal can’t be burned cleanly, but what people don’t realize is that 100 years ago German scientist learned how to extract coal oil and make it into a fuel that could be burned in cars and trucks. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Human beings can do amazing things when they need to and in the future we will need all of those amazing things to survive.
I don’t agree with most things that Trump does, but this is one area that we do need, not for the economy but to make sure that the lights don’t go out.
"Clean coal" is a marketing slogan, not a viable technology. GWB and Obama both wasted billions in federal money trying to make it work and both failed miserably. It's time to move on. The market has already decided, and "clean coal" didn't make the cut.
7
By reducing regulation and royalties, the Trump administration will stimulate the export of coal to developing nations where coal is not yet obsolescent as it is in the U.S. This will strengthen the administration's argument against action on climate change in two ways:
1) The administration will be able to point with renewed vigor to the growing CO2 emissions abroad, claiming that we would be chumps to take action when others aren't;
2) It can claim that action on climate change would injure the domestic coal export industry.
A neat, self-reinforcing loop. (Or noose.)
1) The administration will be able to point with renewed vigor to the growing CO2 emissions abroad, claiming that we would be chumps to take action when others aren't;
2) It can claim that action on climate change would injure the domestic coal export industry.
A neat, self-reinforcing loop. (Or noose.)
3
Mining for 18th century pollution and coal while the rest of the world mines 21st century solar, wind and alternative green energy and technology jobs is simply another form of right-wing sedition....the flushing down a Trump Toilet of America's climate, future, economy and jobs due to unpatriotic, fossilized, greedy 'thinking'.
The Trump Administration is actively harming America with coal on its brain.
Sedition.... exactly what one would expect from the Russian-Republican party.
The Trump Administration is actively harming America with coal on its brain.
Sedition.... exactly what one would expect from the Russian-Republican party.
292
It is free money as they can get at a resource with little expense. This is the plan. They don't care about the cost to our lands, our people, our ultimate productivity.
1
Yes, the United States has over 600 million acres of federal lands, and yes, much of that land has yet to be explored and exploited for its minerals and fossil fuels. But is it essential that they all be opened up now for such exploration and exploitation?
We are in a global glut of both oil and natural gas, and OPEC has no intention of losing its share of that pie. Energy costs have plummeted as a result, and it costs business much more to mine, transport and burn coal than it does to use natural gas and oil. And that's all before environmental and aesthetic costs of mining and burning coal are factored in.
It makes sense for the United States to presently let the free market dictate energy policy, and not to dictate use of obsolescent, more costly energy sources and technologies.
We are in a global glut of both oil and natural gas, and OPEC has no intention of losing its share of that pie. Energy costs have plummeted as a result, and it costs business much more to mine, transport and burn coal than it does to use natural gas and oil. And that's all before environmental and aesthetic costs of mining and burning coal are factored in.
It makes sense for the United States to presently let the free market dictate energy policy, and not to dictate use of obsolescent, more costly energy sources and technologies.
6
This is a misallocation of resources that will hamper our ability to address climate change for years to come. The damage the Trump administration is inflicting on humans, animals and ecosystems is immeasurable. The damage done to the economy and sustainable job creation pales in comparison.
7
One quibble, none of this would be happening without the active support of the Republican party and their paymasters the Koch Bro's et al. This is about more than Trump, he's just a conduit & useful fool (um, tool) for the powerful interests controlling the Republican narrative. They have done so for long before Trump arrived and will continue when he has crashed & burned. Any one of the others running for President would have proved just as useful as Trump & in some respect more so since they wouldn't have been such a drama queen while doing their bidding.
4
We are shooting our own feet if fossil fuel, especially coal, is allowed to prosper, in spite of the poisoning of the environment, and when 'renewable energy' sources are the future. Our Health is at risk, a pesky issue that vulgar Trump, and his enablers, seem willfully blind to see. Are we so dumb that we are willing to lose something so valuable... before we appreciate it? Once sick, unable to breathe contaminated air, and have undrinkable water, there may not be a way back. As Einstein said: "There is no limit to human stupidity". The question is, are we going to let brutus ignoramus Trump get away with 'murder'?
13
"Creating wealth" for whom? This is a theft of public property.
182
Yes, these are public lands, i.e., owned by you and me not the federal government. The feds are the custodian.
1
Why call the interior secretary "business-friendly" and not pollution-friendly? No need to mince words.
51
What Trump and his friends have done so far has been for the benefit of the wealthy.
Trump supporters are supporting a fraud.
Trump supporters are supporting a fraud.
20
The demagogue Trump strikes again, fooling the good people in coal states in the west and rust belt.
Forgot about the environmental consequences of mining more coal, there is less and less market for it in this country and the pols. in these states know it.
If they export it, there will be a brief surge in production but besides exporting death to other countries the markets will dry up since most of the world too is moving away from coal faster than we are.
Better to retrain the workers in these states into new jobs instead of keeping their hopes up high in a dying industry.
We should make it mandatory for rep. pols in these coal states and the demagogue Trump to spend a few weeks in coal polluted cities like Shanghai, Polish cities etc.to see what their policies will result in.
Let them breathe in the smog in these cities.
Forgot about the environmental consequences of mining more coal, there is less and less market for it in this country and the pols. in these states know it.
If they export it, there will be a brief surge in production but besides exporting death to other countries the markets will dry up since most of the world too is moving away from coal faster than we are.
Better to retrain the workers in these states into new jobs instead of keeping their hopes up high in a dying industry.
We should make it mandatory for rep. pols in these coal states and the demagogue Trump to spend a few weeks in coal polluted cities like Shanghai, Polish cities etc.to see what their policies will result in.
Let them breathe in the smog in these cities.
8
Why aren't we retraining these miners for the fastest growing renewable energy businesses. We can't turn our backs on them, they helped build this country long ago. The clean energy companies are the future. Why not pay to retrain the miners and send them in that direction?
13
America was once the land of invention and innovation
Now we are being led back to an 18th century fuel by the idiots that a small part of the country elected
Now we are being led back to an 18th century fuel by the idiots that a small part of the country elected
17
So coal will be mined and the demands continues to decline which seems to defy logic. Trump and the miners need to have an honest conversation with reality. Retraining miners for today's jobs will be far more beneficial than this direction.
15
Yes, the United States has over 600 million acres of federal lands, and yes, much of that land has yet to be explored and exploited for its minerals and fossil fuels. But is it essential that they all be opened up now for such exploration and exploitation?
We are in a global glut of both oil and natural gas, and OPEC has no intention of losing its share of that pie. Energy costs have plummeted as a result, and it costs business much more to mine, transport and burn coal than it does to use coal and oil. And that's all before environmental and aesthetic costs of mining and burning coal are factored in.
It makes sense for the United States to presently let the free market dictate energy policy, and not to dictate use of obsolescent, more costly energy sources and technologies.
We are in a global glut of both oil and natural gas, and OPEC has no intention of losing its share of that pie. Energy costs have plummeted as a result, and it costs business much more to mine, transport and burn coal than it does to use coal and oil. And that's all before environmental and aesthetic costs of mining and burning coal are factored in.
It makes sense for the United States to presently let the free market dictate energy policy, and not to dictate use of obsolescent, more costly energy sources and technologies.
2
Another instance where trump supporters voted against their own self interests. Farmers are now concerned that coal mining will affect their water supply. Coulda told them, but would they have listened? Make America filthy again. Fossil fuel will eventually remain just that; a fossil. Even the paleo diet will go the way of the Neanderthal.
8
Even a conservative like Teddy Roosevelt understood the need to preserve land that can be used for recreation, hunting, and simply exploring nature that adds value to human existence. It is unfortunate that the unenlightened and the ignorant crowd seems to currently have the upper hand with the Trump administration. It will take a conserted effort by Democrats, progressives, environmentalists and others to ensure that land that has been set aside for all Americans doesn't become land for corporations to produce a product no one no longer sees as the future. As we move backwards in our thinking other nations are taking the lead.
7
Yes, this makes perfect sense. Save a dying industry! I understand there are only 1 or 2 Blockbuster Videos left in America. Time to bring Blockbuster back and save jobs!
15
Instead of investing and retraining these folks, let's bring back the pollution, the acid rain to destroy our deciduous forests that help with CO2, can't wait. All for a few votes in Appalachia. Let's make America Great Again. And the thing Trump knows he will get their votes because even if a few folks get their jobs back, word will travel and they will all say to each other, see, trump cares and no matter what, we will vote for him.
3
Our environment, kept well, is fundamental to all. For decisions such as these to be placed in arbitrary positions held by people reporting to whomever happens to be President at the time, is a recipe for continued confrontation, and never-ending change back and forth.
Both sides have arguments which need to be addressed. The energy companies seem to want to always maintain the status quo, no matter what the results to the environment. The environmentalists always seem to want to stifle the energy companies in order to protect what little clean air and water, not to mention the beauty of the land, which still remains.
Neither side can have it totally their own way. Both sides need to compromise - which, in this day and time, apparently is not an option.
The US is falling so far behind even China, in recognizing that pollution is here now, and will continue to grow unless we take steps to reduce it -- and the best way for that is for the energy companies to get their act together and realize that "back to the past" is, in essence, "death to us all". The environmentalists are not helping at all by simply banning what has been existing for many years -- without arriving at suitable solutions to enable the energy companies to survive without polluting.
On top of all this, the present presidential administration seems only to want to tear down any and everything which the former administration (as well as those before it) promoted. This attitude is equally as idiotic.
Both sides have arguments which need to be addressed. The energy companies seem to want to always maintain the status quo, no matter what the results to the environment. The environmentalists always seem to want to stifle the energy companies in order to protect what little clean air and water, not to mention the beauty of the land, which still remains.
Neither side can have it totally their own way. Both sides need to compromise - which, in this day and time, apparently is not an option.
The US is falling so far behind even China, in recognizing that pollution is here now, and will continue to grow unless we take steps to reduce it -- and the best way for that is for the energy companies to get their act together and realize that "back to the past" is, in essence, "death to us all". The environmentalists are not helping at all by simply banning what has been existing for many years -- without arriving at suitable solutions to enable the energy companies to survive without polluting.
On top of all this, the present presidential administration seems only to want to tear down any and everything which the former administration (as well as those before it) promoted. This attitude is equally as idiotic.
17
Environmentalists are not responsible for "energy companies to survive without polluting." How would that work in practical terms?
Only energy companies are responsible for their bottom lines. They are free to commit funds to R&D, to expand into new markets and to wisely guide their company toward new endeavors. They have chosen to buy politicians rather than take those actions. Your very own Scott Pruitt is the poster child.
The consistent environmental energy message is there for those who seek it. Reduce your environmental footprint, buy energy conservation before buying more energy, utilize low-carbon energy to its fullest extent.
Nuclear energy is an area where environmentalists are not in total agreement. That may be moot until someone demonstrates the ability to build a nuclear plant on time and on budget, and we have a sane nuclear waste storage system along with safe systems for uranium mine tailings.
Many people approach energy issues holding a fallacy as an unquestioned beginning point: that there exists the means to produce clean energy that is economically competitive with fossil fuels that are priced well below their external costs in pollution and climate change. There may be such a thing but it is nowhere promised to exist.
Only energy companies are responsible for their bottom lines. They are free to commit funds to R&D, to expand into new markets and to wisely guide their company toward new endeavors. They have chosen to buy politicians rather than take those actions. Your very own Scott Pruitt is the poster child.
The consistent environmental energy message is there for those who seek it. Reduce your environmental footprint, buy energy conservation before buying more energy, utilize low-carbon energy to its fullest extent.
Nuclear energy is an area where environmentalists are not in total agreement. That may be moot until someone demonstrates the ability to build a nuclear plant on time and on budget, and we have a sane nuclear waste storage system along with safe systems for uranium mine tailings.
Many people approach energy issues holding a fallacy as an unquestioned beginning point: that there exists the means to produce clean energy that is economically competitive with fossil fuels that are priced well below their external costs in pollution and climate change. There may be such a thing but it is nowhere promised to exist.
The contempt shown for the environment and America's treasured and valued landscape is seconded only but Trump and his administration's contempt for the American people. The value of coal or any other asset, yes, including the very limited jobs that may be attached to them, pale when compared to their value in providing ecological, commercial and emotional services available to all. One of America's strengths lies in its cultural, economic and natural diversity, available to all for at all times. Most of Trump's actions are one-way trips, destroying the very essence of our country for a one-time gain, worse yet as modest and lower paying jobs go to few while the largest gains go to even fewer as the rest of us are handed a bill to clean up the mess. These losses will be difficult to undo and impossible to recover.
32
Why does the NY Times bestow the mantle of "business friendly" on Zinke? Would promotion of tourism not be "business friendly"? Why does every extractive, destructive, and polluting industry earn the Times' "business friendly" label when it is encouraged by so-called "business friendly" policies and "business friendly" politicians? Is the Times' "business friendly" label defined by short term or long term interests? Whose interest? Why does the Times support the narrative that one is "business friendly" by virtue of being Republican, white, male, and anti-Earth?
82
Good point. There are many, MANY businesses that are totally friendly and in-line with today's political, health, safety and environmental values. Coal is not one of those, so why is supporting coal termed "business friendly?" NYTimes and editors, please pay attention to the nomenclature being used! Change it if you have to.
2
More accurately, it is "billionaire friendly", or "oligarch friendly", or "plutocrat friendly".
2
While I concede that some may get work out of this, the future isn't in coal. The future is in solar. Better to train people to learn how to install and wire solar roofs than to risk the lives of miners, or to screw the environment.
25
NYC doesn't care about that and didn't vote for it. The rest of the nation by-and-large did.