Coal consumption in the U.S.
has declined during the Trump administration. This has happened in spite of Trump's promise to single handily bring the coal industry back if he were elected president.
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Here's what really makes Trump's coal promise more relevant: The U.S. is now consuming less coal than it did during the Carter and Reagan administrations.
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So, what accounts for the higher job numbers in coal, you ask? In real simple terms, it's exports. Here's the rub. The countries that the U.S. export to (like China) no longer want to be in the coal business, in part because of the environmental damage, and because alternative energy sources now available promise long term economic spin-offs that coal clearly does not.
But, what about clean coal, you ask? Won't it save the day? As Trump put it, clean coal happens after the coal is removed from the mines because "they're going to clean it" (huh?) ... which means it's clean right?
Not so fast.
You can read about the promises and reality of "clean coal" by clicking
here,
here, and
here. For those of you who don't want to click, here's the moral of the story: If you believe Trump's clean coal argument you'll probably believe the guy who wants to sell you clean crack.
And, yes, U.S. coal consumption has declined under Donald Trump.
- Mark
