Its an open question if Trump can restore coal-country jobs but hes brought hope

[mahatmakanejeeves]

It’s an open question if Trump can restore coal-country jobs — but he’s brought hope

By MIKE GORRELL | The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Dec 26 2016 01:00PM • Last Updated Dec 27 2016 03:01 pm

East-central Utah residents have weathered tough times and are hungry for some good news.

Price • The day after Donald Trump was elected president, Andy Urbanik was visiting businesses around Carbon and Emery counties, selling ads for KOAL and two other Castle Valley Radio stations. ... Everywhere he went, the fervent Trump supporter said, "It was like a weight was lifted off everybody's shoulders. People had hope." ... Hope is a word used frequently these days in Utah's coal country.

There's no solid evidence Trump can revive the struggling coal industry after he takes office in January. But at least there's hope he will follow through with campaign promises to bring back coal — and, in doing so, restore lost jobs in natural-resource-rich east-central Utah.

With Hillary Clinton, there was no hope for the mining community. ... "None whatsoever," said Jeremy Schritter, 29, of Helper, who has been unemployed as a coal-truck driver since April. "Trump gets the idea we should focus on our local residents. With him doing that, it will bring jobs back to working folks like me. He has a lot more ambition to bring the regular working force back."

Not everyone agrees. Deon Kone, a retired union construction worker in Price, said, "As a working man, I don't know how a working man could vote for Trump. He's all smoke in the sky as far as I'm concerned … like the wizard of Oz."

[LonePirate]

1. Desperation outweighed intelligence in November. Now we wait for the inevitable disappointment.

[Ohioblue22]

2. Stupid miners you could have been refitted to make solar

Panels but good luck with the black lung you're all dying to bring back. Oh btw when trump gets rid of the aca gone are your black lung provisions

[Eliot Rosewater]

4. That would mean they would have safer jobs, jobs that are more pleasurable to

work, better pay and they would never have to worry about losing them.

But to do this they have to admit the coal mines are bad for the environment and climate change is real and human made and so on.

They wont do that, not until they are starving. Will it then be too late? Do not know, but what is clear is people on the conservative side of thinking cant ever be part of the future until they can admit they have been wrong about so much in the past.

Most of them simply are not willing to do that.

[Ohioblue22]

10. i think it's too late trump isnt gonna brung coal back nor is

he gonna retrain them for solar panels

[madokie]

9. I suspect that Black Lung you mention

is a lot like my COPD. I wouldn't, couldn't, won't wish that on anyone anytime. It sucks not being able to breath, knowing full well I'll die from suffocation.

Oh how I wish I had overs or would have died long ago before this set in.

Death doesn't scare me in the least but suffocating does. I'm non religious so I have no illusions of an after life

Stupid miners that voted for this cretin, My apologies to the stupid miners for telling it as I see it.

[Ohioblue22]

11. im sorry to hear that. my aunt died from it. she told me it's

horrible .

[madokie]

12. Years of bad choices

started puffing on Prince Albert before I started school, quit in august '77. Started smoking pot in '68 quit somewhere around 4 years ago. Worked operating dozer for 4 years and spend 12 years working in a foundry. All bad choices.
I really didn't think I'd live to be 68 YO but here I am.

Sorry to hear about your Aunt

[safeinOhio]

3. Poor truck driver.

Even if coal came back to the area, with in 10 years there will be self driving trucks and he will still be out of work.

[The River]

5. Self Driving Trucks Already at Work

in Australia.

From a current story at DKos

" Rio Tinto intends its automated operations in Australia to preview a more efficient future for all of its mines—one that will also reduce the need for human miners. The rising capabilities and falling costs of robotics technology are allowing mining and oil companies to reimagine the dirty, dangerous business of getting resources out of the ground.
...
Trucks that drive themselves can spend more time working because software doesn’t need to stop for shift changes or bathroom breaks. They are also more predictable in how they do things like pull up for loading. “All those places where you could lose a few seconds or minutes by not being consistent add up,” says Atkinson. They also improve safety, he says."

"This mining operation works 24 hours a day with no errors, no deaths, and miniscule expense for human labor. No employees going gun crazy. No workplace romances run amok. No embarrassing employee behavior on social media. No healthcare expenses. What's not to like?! "

Coal jobs are NOT coming back. Just ask the people who used to supply us with Whale Oil.

[Raster]

6. Coal will not be returning...

...Solar and other renewables are on the rise, and even more pertinent to the discussion: Natural Gas is cheap in relation to coal. Much cheaper to produce, much cheaper to transport and much more efficient to use.

[Squinch]

7. Wait till they see how light they feel when they don't have to deal with

Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare, food stamps and Social Security any more! They'll just be floating!

[randr]

8. The coal industry was over the day Bush signed the Clean Air Act

In 1986 the industry was given 40 years to clean up its act. Instead they spent millions, that could have retrained miners, denying climate change.
The owners and CEOS made off with millions while the hard working people they had talked out of Union representation were left without less than promised.