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In short, unless Trump makes Wyoming coal more expensive, don't expect the mines to be revived out East. The market is depressing coal mining activity in the East because Eastern coal is harder to extract per man hour. Wyoming coal is much more economically viable.
In other words, Wyoming coal is like Middle East oil. Plentiful and cheap to extract. Appalachian coal is like oil shale and tar sands. Also plentiful, but only economically viable to extract at higher prices. Unless Trump addresses that, he's giving those Appalachian coal miners false promises and they'll be wondering WHY those coal jobs didn't magically materialize.
And I'm gonna be fair with this as well. The Democratic politicians at the state level and their representatives, also lied to them this whole time. If they want jobs, then the Wyoming mines will need to close or become unattractive for business
Of course, no refutation of what I said. So, nobody knows how politicians, Democrat and Republican alike, going to shut down the Wyoming coal mines to make the Appalachian mines competitive?
The Eastern mines aren't still opening en masse. Not enough foreigners are buying our coal to put the Appalachian miners back to work. Everyone's getting all the good stuff from Wyoming, and they have A LOT. About 25 billion short tons according to the USGS, that is economically viable to recover. How many years is that?
Last edited by theunbrainwashed; 11-05-2017 at 02:28 PM..
In short, unless Trump makes Wyoming coal more expensive, don't expect the mines to be revived out East. The market is depressing coal mining activity in the East because Eastern coal is harder to extract per man hour. Wyoming coal is much more economically viable.
In other words, Wyoming coal is like Middle East oil. Plentiful and cheap to extract. Appalachian coal is like oil shale and tar sands. Also plentiful, but only economically viable to extract at higher prices. Unless Trump addresses that, he's giving those Appalachian coal miners false promises and they'll be wondering WHY those coal jobs didn't magically materialize.
And I'm gonna be fair with this as well. The Democratic politicians at the state level and their representatives, also lied to them this whole time. If they want jobs, then the Wyoming mines will need to close or become unattractive for business
Appalachian coal as a percentage of the coal we burn has been in decline since the 70's when they started mining in the Powder River Basin. I don't think there is any expectation that decline will not continue no matter what the case.
This is completely separate issue than the drastic decline since 2008 that has affected the entire industry including companies operating in the Powder River Basin. That decline has been driven by the confluence of many factors, Obama era policies among them. The effects of Trump's policies remains to be seen, what they wont be doing is exacerbating problems in the coal industry.
Appalachian coal as a percentage of the coal we burn has been in decline since the 70's when they started mining in the Powder River Basin. I don't think there is any expectation that decline will not continue no matter what the case.
This is completely separate issue than the drastic decline since 2008 that has affected the entire industry including companies operating in the Powder River Basin. That decline has been driven by the confluence of many factors, Obama era policies among them. The effects of Trump's policies remains to be seen, what they wont be doing is exacerbating problems in the coal industry.
There's still going to be the massive imbalance between Wyoming and Appalachian coal. If the regs are lifted, Wyoming coal will still be more economically viable. Lifting regs won't suddenly make Appalachian coal more desirable when there's billions of tons left in Wyoming that's super easy to mine compared to Appalachian coal.
Now which regs are hampering coal production out East, that isn't affecting Western coal?
Don't forget China. We got a lot of foreign competition
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