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Coal mines continue to close

someoneyouknow

someoneyouknow

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Belle Ayr, a strip mine that sits in the northeast corner of Wyoming, was the very first strip mine to open in the West back in 1972, kicking off a shifting of the coal industry from the eastern U.S. to the Powder River Basin, which straddles Wyoming and Montana.

It closed on July 1—and could be shuttered permanently, a sign of the shifting fortunes of the coal market as much as the poor management that ran it into bankruptcy.

Belle Ayr and the adjacent Eagle Butte mine shuttered a few hours after its operator, Blackjewel LLC—the country's sixth-largest coal producer—abruptly filed for bankruptcy protection. It had about $250 million in debt and less than $100,000 in the bank—not enough to cover payroll.

The rest of the article talks about how renewables are coming to the fore and fracking gas has gotten so cheap coal can't compete. It also mentions those lost jobs aren't coming back and can't be replaced with anything in similar salary. On top of which, while the folks at the top of these companies got their big checks, the miners affected by these closures won't be able to cash their last checks and could possibly lose whatever retirement they may have.

How's that "I'll make coal great again" working out?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/blackjewel-bankruptcy-the-first-coal-mine-to-open-in-wyoming-is-now-closed/
 
Factory and mine jobs have been declining in number since the election of Ronald Reagan, even as the value of goods manufactured in the United States has increased. This is because of the increase in automation.

During the 2016 campaign Donald Trump found it easy to make unrealistic promises to white blue collar workers about getting their factory and mine jobs back. For the most part he has failed.

Whether or not he retains their support remains to be seen. This is an intractable problem, for which the Democrats do not have an obvious solution either.
 
JayCuck said:
Anyone got the count of Coal plants China and India are building? Just curious.

I guess as long as we're crippling US energy production and putting people out of work, that should be enough?

!
Click to expand...

Asia including China contributed 20.8 % of world emissions between 1990 and 2017. the Americas including USA contributed 20.2%. Both are investing heavily in renewables.

There are very few jobs in modern mining, either in open cut or underground longwall.

And all mines run out of resource in the end.
 
The_Trouvere said:
Whether or not he retains their support remains to be seen. This is an intractable problem, for which the Democrats do not have an obvious solution either.
Click to expand...

Love it or hate it, the Green New Deal addresses this issue. But either way, I have no sympathy for anyone who believed Trump could bring coal mining jobs back (or that he could do anything else right when it came to providing blue-collar jobs, but especially not that).
 
YDB95 said:
But either way, I have no sympathy for anyone who believed Trump could bring coal mining jobs back (or that he could do anything else right when it came to providing blue-collar jobs, but especially not that).
Click to expand...

Yep, his dummies deserve what they voted for. Too bad the rest of us have to suffer him--and them.
 
someoneyouknow said:
Belle Ayr, a strip mine that sits in the northeast corner of Wyoming, was the very first strip mine to open in the West back in 1972, kicking off a shifting of the coal industry from the eastern U.S. to the Powder River Basin, which straddles Wyoming and Montana.

It closed on July 1—and could be shuttered permanently, a sign of the shifting fortunes of the coal market as much as the poor management that ran it into bankruptcy.

Belle Ayr and the adjacent Eagle Butte mine shuttered a few hours after its operator, Blackjewel LLC—the country's sixth-largest coal producer—abruptly filed for bankruptcy protection. It had about $250 million in debt and less than $100,000 in the bank—not enough to cover payroll.

The rest of the article talks about how renewables are coming to the fore and fracking gas has gotten so cheap coal can't compete. It also mentions those lost jobs aren't coming back and can't be replaced with anything in similar salary. On top of which, while the folks at the top of these companies got their big checks, the miners affected by these closures won't be able to cash their last checks and could possibly lose whatever retirement they may have.

How's that "I'll make coal great again" working out?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/blackjewel-bankruptcy-the-first-coal-mine-to-open-in-wyoming-is-now-closed/
Click to expand...


A big reason for the decline in coal mines is the fact that natural gas is cheaper and friendlier to the environment. Coal-fired plants cost $20 more per megawatt hour. Thank you president Trump for making us energy independent. Solar is in a mild downturn due to a tariff war with China, a strong manufacturing resurgence in solar panels is possible if tariffs stay in place for a period of 5 years giving incentives to U.S. manufacturing start-ups. China dumps solar panels in the U.S. killing our ability to build manufacturing in the U.S. Kind of reminds you of what China does with their steel industry, a pattern of sins dating back several decades.
 
Anyone who believed the BS from our current president about "opening the mines.... beautiful clean coal" is basically very naïve.... I'd say stupid, but I don't want to be mean. Coal is the fuel of the 18th century as wood and tallow was during the 17th. We no longer have steam locomotives and basically nobody heats their home with coal. We graduated to oil and then natural gas and we have to look to the future with more hydroelectric, wind, geo thermal, and yes the continuation with gas and some oil. The poor folks who worked the mines as did their pappy and grandpappy have to be retrained and educated on how to build and service wind turbines and solar energy systems. The government needs to step up and provide training centers, community colleges, and factories in West Virginia, Kentucky, other coal states to get honest working people working and not feed them bull crap about "clean coal". Coal pollutes the air and the water and the land. Time to put it to rest along with horse drawn ploughs and buggy whip factories. These folks need to wake up rather than listen to lying politicians pandering for votes.
 
UPDATE

A coal mine in Kentucky which declared bankruptcy (a favorite tactic of the con artist) without warning on July 1, has had the tracks leading out of the mine blocked by unpaid miners. The mine apparently was loading up coal and since the miners hadn't gotten paid for their work, they're not letting the coal go through.

Meanwhile, since the miners didn't quit and weren't fired, they can get unemployment compensation nor any health insurance and in addition to all that, can't get to their 401(K) money. The miners are now reaching their second month without any pay.

And yet, this area voted heavily for the con artist and his promise to make coal great again. I wonder what the opinion of the uneducateds in the area would be if you asked them if they'd vote for the lying sack of shit again. More than likely they'd come up a myriad of excuses how it's not his fault but Obama's.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/30/us/kentucky-coal-dispute/index.html
 
But coal is black and Trump loves it, which means he can't be racist!
 
The_Trouvere said:
for which the Democrats do not have an obvious solution either.
Click to expand...

They do, no one is listening.

Take a look at this board. Who posts the most shit? Racist(s) like dump/dawn/bot etc. They don't actually care about fixing problems or making the lives of the working class better. All that care about is making sure they can spew their hate while their neighborhoods get destroyed, their jobs are outsourced, schools are closed, and their health insurance is taken away.

It's also because the news media is more focused on horse race nonsense than the actual issues because, well, that's what makes money.
 
UPDATE

The coal miners are now asking their savior to institute socialism and protect them from the vagaries of capitalism.

Wait, scratch that. They'll settle for a tweet and a personal handshake.

"A tweet would be great," Pearson said. "You know a lot of us country folks, we don't tweet. We like to see some more face-to-face. And I know he's an extremely busy man, and I know this is a small thing going on when you're the most powerful man in the world. But man, if he could show up. You're talking about filling a void, you're talking about making some people feel special. Maybe if he could just come here and get a bird's eye view of what's really going on, he could change a lot of people's lives. He really could."​

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/02/us/kentucky-blackjewel-coal-miners/index.html
 
It's dead, Jim

The United Mine Workers of America president, Cecil Roberts, said at an event on Wednesday:

"Coal's not back. Nobody saved the coal industry." He said coal-fired plants are closing all over the country, calling it a "harsh reality."​

This is, not surprisingly, the complete opposite of what the con artist said last year:

"We are back. The coal industry is back."​

Roberts, who said he believes the global climate crisis is real, said the only thing he hears 2020 presidential candidates talking about "is how they're going to save all the coal miners in this country or get rid of all the coal miners in this country. Do it tomorrow, you still are not solving climate change."

He said technology that removes carbon from the burning of coal needs to be developed to solve the climate emergency.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/05/politics/coal-miners-union-president-coals-not-back/index.html
 
UPDATE

Coal miners halt protest of coal mine in bankruptcy according to Cumberland Mayor Charles Raleigh.

"The miners stayed the course, but had to find other work to provide for their families," Raleigh told CNN's Polo Sandoval.
. . .
"The system failed these men, there should be people held accountable for not assuring that laws in place were not followed," Raleigh said.
​

Huh. I wonder who should be enforcing the laws?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/28/us/kentucky-coal-miners-protest-ends/index.html
 
But . . . but . . . the Trumpettes say the economy is booming.
 
Largest private coal mine in the U.S. files for bankruptcy. Murray Energy's CEO, Robert Murray, gave heavily to the con artist so he could get taxpayer money to keep the company running. Which never materialized, just like the con artist's promise to make coal great again (see video).

Wonder how the conversations will go if the two ever meet again.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/29/business/murray-energy-bankruptcy/index.html
 
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