Coal-Power Plant Closures Near Record High Under Trump

[javero]

Posted: 2/6/20 at 12:00pm

It's fitting that a guy with the worst kind of Obama-envy imaginable would be on pace to outshine his predecessor, just not in the way many of us thought possible.  In short, Trump is on the verge of shutting down more coal-powered plants during his first term than Obama shuttered in his second.  Oh the irony.

Trump promised on the campaign trail that the coal jobs would be coming back to coal country.  Reality is sometimes disappointing.  On one hand, I'm elated that renewable energy sources have finally become price competitive with fossil fuels.  On the other hand, however, my heart sinks for his coal country followers who were duped by a charlatan in an ill-fitting designer suit.  He convinced them that China, immigrants, and unfair trade agreements were the bane of their existence.  So, in response, he had his people slap a fresh coat of paint on NAFTA and re-brand it.

I've written enough already.  Check out the report from a legitimate source here.

And a graph provided by the Federal Reserve of St Louis here.

Updated On: 2/6/20 at 12:00 PM

[John Adams]

Posted: 2/6/20 at 2:13pm

The headline is deceptive. It implies that Trump is responsible for an increase in coal-power plant closures. The comparison to data from the Obama administration is also misleading.

The entire article speaks about how Trump's efforts to increase the use of fossil fuels (coal, specifically) has failed.

The last quote sums it up (boldface added by me):

“The truth is renewable energy is quickly overtaking fossil fuels as a dominate source of energy in the U.S. and, though the Trump administration may slow things down a bit, there is no policy prescription or campaign promise the president can make that can stop private sector and public support for renewable energy,” Cook said.

A more accurate headline would be:

     "Coal-Power Plant Closures Near Record High IN SPITE OF Trump"

[javero]

Posted: 2/6/20 at 3:00pm

John Adams said: "...


The last quote sums it up (boldface added by me):

“The truth is renewable energy is quickly overtaking fossil fuels as a dominate source of energy in the U.S. and, though the Trump administration may slow things down a bit, there is no policy prescription or campaign promise the president can make that can stop private sector and public support for renewable energy,” Cook said..."

Honestly, I find that quote, even with your enhancement, somewhat problematic. What has chipped away at coal's dominance, in the context of electricity generation in the US, has been the ascent of liquefied natural gas (LNQ), not renewable energy sources per se.  I do agree, though, that nuance is sometimes lost in headlines that serve as click-bait.  There's an insightful article available here which I feel puts this in a little bit of perspective. 

The original opening paragraph was tinged with sarcasm which wasn't lost on anyone this side of the pond.  The underlying thread was Trump's readiness to make it all up as he goes along.  This is just one example of his string of hollow promises.

Thanks for weighing in!

 

Updated On: 2/6/20 at 03:00 PM

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 2/6/20 at 3:09pm

My heart goes out to all those losing their jobs scrubing the coal to make it clean.