Outrage as Trump's coal expansion coupled with health cuts: 'There won't be anyone to work in the mines'
Source: The Guardian
Sat 19 Apr 2025 11.00 EDT
Last modified on Sat 19 Apr 2025 18.51 EDT
The Trump administration’s efforts to expand coal mining while simultaneously imposing deep cuts to agencies tasked with ensuring miner health and safety has left some advocates “dumbfounded”. Agencies that protect coal miners from serious occupational hazards, including the condition best known as “black lung”, have been among those affected by major government cuts imposed by the White House and the unofficial “department of government efficiency” (Doge) run by the billionaire Elon Musk.
“The [Mine Workers of America] is thrilled they’re looking at the future of coal,” said Erin Bates, a spokesperson for the United Mine Workers of America, about a series of executive orders signed by the president to expand coal mining. “But – if you’re not going to protect the health and safety of the miners, there’s not going to be anyone to work in the mines you are apparently reopening.”
Last week, Trump signed a raft of measures he said would expand coal mining in the US in order to feed the energy demands of hungry datacenters that power artificial intelligence software. “All those plants that have been closed are going to be opened if they’re modern enough, or they’ll be ripped down and brand-new ones will be built,” Trump told a crowd of lawmakers, workers and executives at the White House while signing the order. “We’re going to put the miners back to work.”
The coal industry has shrunk precipitously in recent years, and now represents only about 15% of the power generated for the US electrical grid. Natural gas, wind and solar have proved to have a competitive advantage over coal, contributing to its decline, because plants are cheaper to operate, according to Inside Climate News. Even as coal mining has shrunk, the potential dangers for people who still work in the field remain high. Pneumoconiosis is among the best known occupational hazards faced by coal miners, but is far from the only risk they face – others include roof collapse, hearing loss and lung cancer, to name a few.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/19/trump-coal-mining-health-cuts
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In other words - they are trying to "implement talking points" and those talking points were nothing but empty rhetoric.
So any attempts at carrying out the purported goals from their talking points, will become a big FAIL.
You see the same with the idiotic "drill baby drill" exhortations, when you have the U.S. oil industry literally pumping out record monthly amounts exceeding 13 million bbls/day, while you also have OPEC+ recently announcing that they will be increasing their own production again - all right on the precipice of a global recession which will most likely reduce demand. 
Garbage in, garbage out.
Yeah, taking health care away from coal miners is a great way to increase profits for the business owner. Too fucking bad the coal mining Trumpsters are going to suffer.
But it’s what they voted for…
