Trump's Coal Promise is All Talk, No Substance

Third Way issued the following statement from Josh Freed, Vice President for Clean Energy:

“Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has promised that, in his first 100 days as President of the United States, he will ‘save the coal industry’ and ‘bring it back 100% percent.’ To economically stressed coal communities, this sounds like a dream come true—Donald Trump has their backs.

But the truth is that Donald Trump's promise is all talk and no substance. To save coal, Trump would have to have the federal government interfere in energy markets — something almost no one wants. By manipulating the price of coal, Trump would also endanger tens of thousands of well-paying jobs in the natural gas industry, cost taxpayers on the order of $11 billion a year, and, despite all claims to the contrary, negatively impact coal workers.

There is a real crisis going on in coal communities—a crisis that demands real solutions. Four out of the top five coal producers in this country have gone into bankruptcy, coal seams are getting thinner, and natural gas prices aren’t rising any time soon. Donald Trump’s pie-in-the-sky promise of a complete turnaround for coal underscores the fact that he doesn’t understand the seriousness of the situation. Instead of empty promises, we need policies that provide a way forward for coal communities, like incentives for innovative carbon capture and storage technology and infrastructure investments to unlock new drivers of economic opportunity.”