Obama Kept His Promise, 83,000 Coal Jobs Lost And 400 Mines Shuttered

[rangerrebew]

Obama Kept His Promise, 83,000 Coal Jobs Lost And 400 Mines Shuttered
Photo of Andrew Follett
Andrew Follett
Energy and Environmental Reporter
12:00 PM 09/05/2016
0
3278
 

This Labor Day, America has 83,000 fewer coal jobs and 400 coal mines than it did when Barack Obama was elected in 2008, showing that the president has followed through on his pledge to “bankrupt” the coal industry.

A 2015 study found the coal industry lost 50,000 jobs from 2008 to 2012 during Obama’s first term. During Obama’s second term, the industry employment in coal mining has fallen by another 33,300 jobs, 10,900 of which occurred in the last year alone, according to federal data. Currently, coal mining employs 69,460 Americans, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Much of the blame for the job losses is targeted at federal regulations aimed at preventing global warming, which caused coal power plants to go bankrupt, resulting in a sharp decline in the price of coal.
 

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/09/05/obama-kept-his-promise-83000-coal-jobs-lost-and-400-mines-shuttered/#ixzz4JVzsavDz

[Fishrrman]

One would hope that -- come election day -- those out-of-work miners will remember which political party is responsible for their condition.

Unfortunately, old ways die hard in the mining communities. There exists a multi-generational attitude that the Republicans are "the party of the owners" and the democrats represent the "party of the workers".

Once, this was the case. There were only two sides from which to choose.
As Florence Reese once sang, "which side are you on, which side are you on?"

But today there is a "third side" that is hurting BOTH "the owners" and "the workers".
That side is the government of the United States, as represented by the democratic party.

We can only hope that enough miners begin to see this new reality...