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President Barack Obama said opposition to his policies by coal miners and people in Appalachia is “perfectly legitimate” during a Monday interview with National Public Radio.
“If you are living in a town that historically has relied on coal and you see coal jobs diminishing, you probably are going to be more susceptible to the argument that I’ve been wiping out the economy in your area,” Obama said during the interview. “If somebody tells you that this is because of Obama’s war on coal, well, you know, that’s an argument you may be sympathetic to. And that’s perfectly legitimate.”
That's an interesting statement to me. Kind of like - 'it is what it is'.
You are 'going to be more susceptible to the argument' ? He IS wiping out their economy. What kind of statement is that?
And then at the end of the article...
The Obama administration responded by offering a mere $14.5 million in federal funding for programs to retrain out-of-work coal miners, after imposing regulations that greatly hampered the American coal industry.
With regards to what is given to other groups, this is an insult - especially since he is in the process of wiping out their means to support themselves.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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My dad was from coal country (Eastern KY), my grandfather was a coal miner. Coal jobs have been declining in Appalachia for decades due to mechanization and switching from labor intensive underground mines to surface mines where a 10 dudes and tons of dynamite can mine a mountain.
The reality is EPA regulations finished off an already declining coal industry. People have lost jobs in coal. It's also a reality that switching from coal to gas for power plants means a much cleaner environment. Fewer people will have asthma or get cancer from living near toxic coal waste.
It is not President Obama's fault that the coal these people have been mining create serious environmental degradation when they are burned. This is also complicated by the observation that the huge coal mines in Wyoming produce lower sulfur coal at lower prices per unit of energy. Combining these results in a substantial decline in demand for Appalachian coal.
These folks are in a declining area because nobody wants the coal they can mine. They really need to find something else to do to earn a living or just move to where the jobs are. Unfortunately the industrialists are more likely to build a new factory in Asia instead of Appalachia and there are no extra jobs anywhere else.
My dad was from coal country (Eastern KY), my grandfather was a coal miner. Coal jobs have been declining in Appalachia for decades due to mechanization and switching from labor intensive underground mines to surface mines where a 10 dudes and tons of dynamite can mine a mountain.
The reality is EPA regulations finished off an already declining coal industry. People have lost jobs in coal. It's also a reality that switching from coal to gas for power plants means a much cleaner environment. Fewer people will have asthma or get cancer from living near toxic coal waste.
Put the coal miners who are losing their jobs to work in the solar energy industry.
States like Florida, Arizona and others have so much sun, there is no reason that every building shouldn't have roof-top solar panels. 100 % free sustainable energy. It's crazy not to move in that direction, and putting up all those solar panels will keep former coal mine workers busy for decades and they won't be getting black lung disease either.
Other states that are really windy can go with wind power. It's crazy that we are not putting millions of unemployed people at work to make the U.S. truly energy independent. It's win/win.
I grew up in coal country- and it's been in a nasty decline for most of my life (and I left as soon as I could). Where I grew up they shut down the mines in the early/mid 80's because EPA regulations made it unprofitable for power plants to burn the high-sulphur coal from the area. Thirty years later stores are boarded up, most jobs are gone except assorted McJobs and some bottom-feeder factories for those willing to commute. Drug use- particularly meth and pain pills- is an epidemic. Most kids with intelligence and ambition move away... leaving only the dregs. On the bright side, the creek running through town no longer runs sulfur-orange and there are no longer signs warning you not to touch the water.
Frankly none of this is new to Coal Country... economic ruin and brain-drain have been the norm for a LONG time. But with super-low natural gas prices and tightening EPA regulations, it's only going to get worse.
I'm of the opinion that anybody smart enough to relocate elsewhere is totally irresponsible and not worthy of my pity if they refuse to do so. Times change. You gotta adapt or you'll be left behind.
I obviously use electricity. This computer is operated on electricity. Most of electricity I use is generated by a Nuclear Power Plant (Seabrook Station) of imported Hydroelectric Power from Quebec. Peak power is generated by a Natural Gas fired power plant.
I was not castigating anyone. I was just pointing out that the coal miners were producing a product that is too expensive and harmful to the rest of the environment. That is not their fault but is their problem. Actually their economic survival is a national problem.
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