Why Trump cannot bring back coal jobs (unemployed, wage, salary)
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Well yes, if you let mining operations destroy the environment and poison people, then let power plants fill the air with toxic crap, sure, coal is cheap.
But at the end of the day none of it matters. Even if coal were cheaper the jobs still aren't coming back to places like WV because it's cheaper and easier to get coal from other places.
Jason, to extract natural gas from the ground requires drilling, which is not necessarily too far from mining or ground exploration. The same for oil, nuclear energy, and the rest. Again, we have to put politics aside to see the real picture.
Keep in mind that approximately 54% of Americans are working and supporting the other half. Governments cannot all of the sudden destroy one industry and dump the added cost to the remaining workforce (the 54% above, minus the industry phased out). Certain industries can probably be phased-out gradually as the expense is passed along to other industries. For example, Canada has been phasing out coal while switching to nuclear energy.
Generally speaking, facts won't convince those on the far right.
The notion that coal jobs were gotten rid of because "crazy liberal politics" is simply laughable. Say what you will about either party, but the reality is that both of them, in the end, answer to Big Business. If burning hemp was suddenly the most profitable way to create energy, we'd suddenly have all prohibitions on hemp removed overnight. If horses were somehow more efficient than cars thanks to insane genetic engineering, we'd have horses everywhere and cars would vanish overnight. In the end, it's all about the money.
Sadly, too many Trump voters are under some nutty believe that "liberals" actively want to put them out of business, which doesn't make sense. Or, they think that hordes of "black, gay, Muslim coal miners overseas" took their jobs... at least, that could be used as an excuse to explain away those hatreds.
That's funny because NY doesn't even allow drilling. They banned it. So you want natural gas and your energy provided to you, you just don't want it produced in your own backyard. Wow, that's funny, it's just like illegal immigrants you like them for votes, maids, and cheap labor but you just don't want them living by you. Notice a trend?
The natural gas is coming from the red states by the way... all of those deplorables right?
Get educated boy.
Last edited by wanderlust76; 02-11-2017 at 01:20 PM..
Truth to tell coal in USA began to decline as ships and locomotives moved from steam to diesel or electric. Oil, natural gas and even electricity began eating into the domestic side (home heating, cooking, etc..) leaving pretty much only electricity generation.
Yes, there were and still are those who use coal for heating and cooking purposes, especially when prices for oil, propane or natural gas where high, but again the glut has brought things down. Even the once reliable "off the grid" demographic can tap into solar or other renewables for some or all of their energy needs.
Yes, there is still plenty of coal in the Appalachia area, but don't think even His Orangeness can bring back production and jobs. Wyoming coal is (IIRC) not only easier to get at but of a better quality than what is easily had in the northeast. Even that couldn't save the Wyoming coal industry as it was hit hard by the shale gas boom.
Your last paragraph is something I have been saying all over the forum. Coal from Appalachia is harder to get to now. Wyoming and Montana coal are easier to get to. Few people are listening.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wanderlust76
That's funny because NY doesn't even allow drilling. They banned it. So you want natural gas, you just don't want it produced in your backyard. OH SNAP now what ya got?
The natural gas is coming from the red states including WV by the way... all of those deplorables right?
Get educated boy.
And when we try to build the pipelines through to convert them from coal to natural gas we're also fought every step of the way...
Energy experts give Trump the hard truth: You can’t bring coal back
Coal wasn’t killed by a political “war” — cheap renewables and fracked gas were the culprits.
That's funny because NY doesn't even allow drilling. They banned it. So you want natural gas, you just don't want it produced in your backyard. OH SNAP now what ya got?
The natural gas is coming from the red states including WV by the way... all of those deplorables right?
Get educated boy.
The same for wind power in some places by the East coast. They want the electricity coming to their homes, but not the wind turbines at their shores. By the way, electric power to Northern NY comes from Canada. And Canada burns coal, diesel fuel, etc., to produce that power.
But in reality, that electric power comes from the outlet.
That's funny because NY doesn't even allow drilling. They banned it. So you want natural gas, you just don't want it produced in your backyard. OH SNAP now what ya got?
The natural gas is coming from the red states including WV by the way... all of those deplorables right?
Get educated boy.
Cuomo banned fracking to make the "green"/environmental lobby happy and score points that he thought would add to his CV in any potential POTUS run (2016). The Clinton woman and DNC quashed any ideas Cuomo had in that direction, but he still can claim the environmental high ground.
This said, There is nevertheless a broad problem in coal country. Many miners have lost their jobs, either to automation or to mines being closed. Most of them have no other skills or training, and there are few industries operating near their homes where they might be retrained and employed. Large-scale layoffs of miners means that other businesses are also closing, so there are few jobs of any sort which might provide incomes for the miners and their families.
What are we going to do to help these people? Tell them, you should go out get an education because life isn't fair? Give me a break?
The principal solution for these people is the same as it has always been whenever employment opportunities vanish in some area. Move out, to somewhere that jobs exist or where one can be self-sufficient living off the land. I have couple of friends who joined the Marine Corps, what else could they do?
Jason, to extract natural gas from the ground requires drilling, which is not necessarily too far from mining or ground exploration. The same for oil, nuclear energy, and the rest. Again, we have to put politics aside to see the real picture.
Keep in mind that approximately 54% of Americans are working and supporting the other half. Governments cannot all of the sudden destroy one industry and dump the added cost to the remaining workforce (the 54% above, minus the industry phased out). Certain industries can probably be phased-out gradually as the expense is passed along to other industries. For example, Canada has been phasing out coal while switching to nuclear energy.
Chronic exposure to coal dust can lead to black lung disease, or pneumoconiosis, which took the lives of 10,000 miners worldwide over the last decade.[5] Rates of black lung are on the rise, and have almost doubled in the last 10 years. The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported that close to 9 percent of miners with 25 years or more experience tested positive for black lung in 2005-2006, compared with 4 percent in the late 1990s.[6]
Miners can also suffer other serious, long-term respiratory ailments: industrial bronchitis is very common among coal workers. In nonsmokers (who are less prone to develop bronchitis than smokers), studies of coal miners have shown a 16%[7] to 17%[8] incidence of industrial bronchitis.
Miners are also at risk of injury and fatality from coal mining disasters, such as the Upper Big Branch mine disaster that occurred on April 5, 2010 at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine at Montcoal in Raleigh County, West Virginia. Twenty-nine miners were killed.[9]
Now here is the the real world. This from the largest electrical generation power company in the USA.
Why does Duke Energy generate electricity with coal?
Coal is our nation's most abundant energy resource. According to the U.S. Energy Administration, the United States is home to the largest recoverable reserves of coal in the world. They estimate that we have enough coal to last several hundred years, based on current consumption levels.
Because of its relatively low cost and abundance, coal is used to create about half of the electricity generated in the United States. This availability and price stability play an important role in helping Duke Energy support economic growth in the regions it serves with a reliable and affordable supply of electricity.
Anyone who wants to believe the nonsense from Bloomberg, the same entity who said Hillary would win the election, is free to do so. But coal isn't going anywhere.
And 100 years from now when domestic natural gas is gone, they will still be burning coal.
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