When the biggest obstacle to the success of our industry is our own government, we had to begin every day on defense. We did that for eight years. However, with Donald Trump’s pledge to stop the EPA’s unlawful Clean Power Plan (CPP), an estimated 127,000 high-wage coal mining jobs will be saved, according to a new report published by the National Mining Association and based on the Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2017, which was released on January 5.
The transition to a Trump Administration is a turning point for the future of coal-related jobs in the United States. With the CPP in place, the number of coal miners, railroad workers, mechanics, truckers and other occupations that rely on coal mining would have shrunk. The only question is, by how much?
Regardless of who won the 2016 presidential election, I saw a path forward for coal. But it is a comforting feeling to say that the person who won is a friend of the industry. Now we will have people in a new administration who see that we have to continue to use fossil fuels in a wise, efficient and environmentally responsible manner to maintain our prosperity.
The future looks bright, but I see several challenges that remain. We have to figure out a solution to CO2 and the economic turmoil that the electricity markets are in. While these challenges are daunting, we now have someone in charge who wants to make it happen.
Another challenge that persists are those who oppose fossil fuels and the progress that they bring us. Just as we saw in North Dakota this fall, angry protestors will stop at nothing to achieve their ill-advised goal to “keep it in the ground.”
A commonly held misconception is that with a friendly administration the coal industry will give up its attempt to develop new clean-coal technology. The truth is that we now have an even better opportunity to reduce CO2 by making our plants more efficient and reusing the CO2 for beneficial purposes, instead of shutting down the whole industry.
North Dakota Lignite Research and Development Program has shown that electricity can be produced both affordably and with less CO2 and that vision is on the horizon. As we go forward, we hope the members of the lignite industry continue to lead the charge to pursue meaningful CO2 reductions. At the end of the road, we benefit, both economically and environmentally.
Jason Bohrer
President & CEO
Lignite Energy Council