Coal-Mining and Climate Change Regulations

In Decatur, Illinois, engineers are constructing self-driving trucks and drills, while autonomous Caterpillars are already being used in Australia. Autonomous machines, are safer, more efficient, more productive …and never need to take a lunch break! The mining industry is fast becoming a high tech industry in need of more engineers and coders than it needs laborers. With the demand for coal decreasing in light of cheaper and more sustainable natural gas fuel, as well as the global effort to reduce carbon emissions, coal mining companies need these productivity enhancing innovations in order to keep prices competitive.

As part of the United States’ climate pact with Paris, former President Barack Obama pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by 26 percent of its 2005 levels. He planned to do this with the Clean Power Plan, which entailed replacing hundreds of coal-fired power plants with wind and solar farms. President Donald Trump, however vowed to overturn Obama’s efforts in the name of protecting, and even returning coal-mining jobs back to the U.S. A recent study has predicted that automation will replace 40 to 80 percent of mine workers, and with the world moving towards clean energy, demand for coal will never return to its previous levels.

Where do you suggest these workers go?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/business/coal-jobs-trump-appalachia.html