Trump's Making U.S. Coal Exports the Greatest They've Ever Been

Trump delivers on coal

They said it couldn't be done, but Donald John Trump did it anyway.



He won the presidency and saved the coal industry.

The Fake News New York Times scoffed. In February, it ran an editorial, "Trump’s Deceptive Energy Policy."

Fake NYT

"Mr. Trump’s false narrative on coal is particularly cruel, since it offers empty promises to Appalachian coal miners who are suffering grievous job losses and myriad health and economic ills. It’s true that the last two Democratic presidents — Bill Clinton and Mr. Obama — cracked down on power plant emissions like soot and mercury with rules that imposed real costs on producers; and Mr. Obama’s Clean Power Plan, aimed at cutting the carbon emissions that fuel global warming, would have pressured the industry more.

"But these regulations did not kill coal-fired plants, and rolling them back, as Mr. Trump is doing, will not stop the unforgiving forces of the market, chiefly the switch to cheaper natural gas, and renewables’ increasing competitiveness. These are the forces that have been largely responsible for the decline in mining jobs and the closing, or conversion to natural gas, of hundreds of coal-fired plants.
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Joe Biden said they would bankrupt coal companies. They did.

President Trump said he would bring back coal. He did.

Bloomberg News reported,

"U.S. exports of coal used by power stations are set to hit a record this year on increased global demand for the nation’s high-energy-content fuel.

"Steam-coal shipments will probably jump 58 percent to 58 million metric tons this year, according to Guillaume Perret, founder of Perret Associates Ltd., a London-based research company. He expects exports to reach 65 million tons by 2025.

"President Donald Trump was elected partly on a platform of boosting the U.S. coal industry. U.S. production, including metallurgical coal used for steel production, advanced last year for the first time since 2013.
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Obama said those jobs aren't coming back.

President Trump said, oh yes they are.

And they are coming back!

 

Yeah lets celebrate the export of the dirtiest form of power we have this side of using cow farts.

 

The biggest buyer of U.S. coal in the first quarter was India, where thermal plants help generate about three-quarters of its electricity. An official from that Asian country earlier this year criticized Trump for seeking to pull out of the Paris climate deal while the U.S. has been a major contributor to emissions during its history.

They have as much right to electricity as you do, Silly!

 

Doesn't mean we have to provide it. They aren't entitled to our coal anymore than we are entitled to their.......whatever the hell India exports these days. Tea...they are famous for tea.

Paris Accords let China who is by far the number one polluter (more than the US and EU combined) completely off the hook. There is a reason virtually every country signed it because its a toothless and meaningless empty gesture.

 

We sell it to them, Silly!

 

And we don't have to. There are lots of stupid things we do that we shouldn't be doing. Tobacco should have been completely banned decades ago. Coal needs to go the way of the dinosaur. If and when they actually come up with a clean and cost effective way of burning it then we can revisit it. Right now though it is undeniably dirtiest form of power generation we have outside of farts.

 

If coal exports increase again next year they might reach the record high they hit in 2012, under Obama. It seems like your narrative is bogus. The fact is natural gas killed coal, not Obama.

The coal industry is a tiny part of the US economy and we shouldn't be bailing them out at the expense of our environment and our citizens. Coal use is going to continue to decrease in the future as other energy sources become cheaper and more efficient. Even your god-king Trump can't save the coal industry from it's inevitable decline.

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=coal_imports
"In 2012, U.S. coal exports reached a record high of 126 million short tons, equal to 12% of U.S. coal production. U.S. coal exports declined each year from 2012 through 2016 and then increased in 2017. In 2017, the United States exported about 97 million short tons of coal—equal to about 13% of U.S. coal production—to at least 42 countries."

 

You are completely mistaken if you believe that an increase in coal exports means a return in coal mining jobs

Example:

Here is a graph of the US's coal exports from 2000 to 2016 (when the US's coal exports hit an all time high)




Now here is a graph of US coal mining jobs from 1900 to 2016 (when US coal jobs hit an all time high)





Your OP mentions that the US could pass the current record in coal exports, but what you fail to realize is that record was set in the year 2012. Despite the US's coal exports hitting an all time peak in 2012, the US's peak in coal jobs was set in the late 20s/early30s. Breaking the export record back in 2012 did not revive the US coal industry, and breaking the record again in 2018 isn't expected to revive the US coal industry either.

Another thing worth noting is much of our coal exports relies on our trade deficits. How does this work? well when our companies buy goods from foreign countries, those transactions are made in our currency, meaning the foreign sellers are given US dollars in exchange for their goods. So what do those foreign companies do once they have those US dollars? Well, since those dollars are worth less there than they are worth here, those companies send that money back to the US in exchange for US goods. Often times they purchase goods that would otherwise be more expensive for them if not for the US currency they own from selling goods to American companies.

The reason why coal in particular is seeing an increase is due to fluctuations in the global demand for coal. However, these increases in demand are not uncommon, nor are they expected to reverse the overall decline in coal that we have been experiencing since the 1930s.

In short, while the coal mining industry sees many fluctuations, coal mining jobs are expected to continue to decline in the long run.

 

Can you please explain what Trump did to create demand for coal in India?

 

He's just awesome that way. He makes it look easy!

 

Made the market available by rescinding Obama era regs on coal.

 

Which regulations would those be?

 

Face it, Progs hate Coal Miners. Progs are all about the folks that take a shower before work and look down their haughty noses as the working folks who shower after work.

What you call "fluctuations" are actually coal mining job LOSSES under Obama-The-Unfortunate and coal mining job gains under The-Orange-Tornado-For-Good.

Trump's glorious first term is in it's fabulous 18th month, and over that period 1,900 Coal Mining jobs have been added.
Under Obama's "new normal" in his final 18 months he LOST 13,200 Coal Mining jobs.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, All Employees: Mining and Logging: Coal Mining [CEU1021210001], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CEU1021210001, August 15, 2018.

 

Progs hate coal miners

 

Lefties wrote off the coal industry and all of the Americans involved with it.

I wonder if they will remember at the polls?

 

In Trump's first 18 months we have added 1900 coal mining jobs.
In Obama's last 18 months he lost 13,200 coal mining jobs.

Yup, things improved when Trump took over.

He's a natural!

 

1900 jobs in 18 months is practically nothing. The US Coal mining industry is shrinking and nothing Trump does can change that. In order to break even the US needs to add something like 50,000 jobs a month.

 

Sandbagged by your own link.



Obama also added 2000 in his last 18 months.
But do call when Trump adds 30,000 coal jobs.
And yes. I do think the coal miners will remember that promise.

 

While at the same time coal mining health infractions climbed ... but hey, lets pay those miners before we kill them. My elder uncle died of Black Lung - it's a really crap way
to die. You slowly suffocate and you know it's happening. But cheers to Trump.

 

"we", "our"

leftists are such a confusing lot. one minute they're decrying nationalism, the next they're talking about "we" and "our"

 

LOL so now I am a leftist. There is no reason why we should still be using coal. We need a push for nuclear and we now have enough NG that we no longer need coal. We have lots of trees but no one burns wood for power anymore, coal also needs to be retired.

 

are you ready to decrease your electricity consumption by over 30%?

 

Coal Is Great!

Cheap power is good politics.

 

Vote Democrat!
The Party of Poverty!