http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/west-virginia-coal-association-endorses-trump/article/2590514By KELLY COHEN • 5/5/16 3:42 PM
The West Virginia Coal Association has endorsed Donald Trump for president on Thursday, a day after Trump attacked Hillary Clinton for pushing to put coal miners out of business.
The trade association, which represents roughly 95 percent of West Virginia's state's coal production, voted unanimously to support the Republican at a membership meeting in Charleston.
"Donald Trump has been firm and clear throughout his campaign in his commitment to rebuild America's basic industries — the industries that made this country great — such as coal, steel and manufacturing," Bill Raney, WVCA president, said in announcing the endorsement. "Trump has said he will reverse the Democratic regulatory assault that has cost the coal industry more than 40 percent of our production and jobs since 2008."
Raney said Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has proposals that "essentially double-down on the job-killing Obama policies."
"West Virginia can't afford that and neither can the nation," Raney said, adding that a Trump presidency coupled with Republican Bill Cole as governor will help "to rebuild what we have lost to the Obama War on Coal."
The coal industry is set to be a big factor in West Virginia during the general election, as the state has been hit hard by the industry's decline in recent years.
Clinton, in a debate in March, caught flack from the industry when she said she'd "put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business." She has since said she's sorry for the comments and misspoke.
According to data from WVCA, there are 141 coal companies operating in West Virginia. Roughly 75 percent of West Virginia's mining income comes from coal.
