In this Thursday, May 12, 2016 photo, coal miner Scott Tiller drives a man trip into an underground mine less than 40-inches high at dusk in Welch, W.Va. For over a century, life in Central Appalachia has been largely defined by the ups and downs of the coal industry. There is a growing sense in these mountains that for a variety of reasons, economic, environmental, political, coal mining will not rebound this time. Coal's slump is largely the result of cheap natural gas, which now rivals coal as a fuel for generating electricity. Older coal-fired plants are being idled to meet clean-air standards. According to the Labor Department, there were 56,700 jobs in coal mining in March, down from 84,600 in March 2009, shortly after President Barack Obama entered office. There are stark differences between the two parties on energy and environment issues that underscore the sky-high stakes for both sides of the debate in the 2016 presidential race. Many environmental groups and Democrats fear a potential rollback of the Obama administration's policies on climate change and renewable energy under a Republican president. Republicans all support coal production and enthusiastically back nuclear energy. They along with business groups are eager to boost oil and gas production following years of frustration with Obama. (Photo by David Goldman/AP Photo)
In this Monday, Dec. 14, 2015, photo, Indian women use bare hands to pick reusable pieces from heaps of used coal discarded by a carbon factory in Gauhati, India. The world's biggest coal users – China, the United States and India – have boosted coal mining in 2017, in an abrupt departure from last year's record global decline for the heavily polluting fuel and a setback to efforts to rein in climate change emissions. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)
In this Thursday, May 12, 2016 photo, coal miner Scottie Stinson, front, drives a man trip as he and fellow workers head into an underground mine less than 40-inches high to start their shift in Welch, W.Va. (Photo by David Goldman/AP Photo)
In this October 17, 2014 photo, a mural of a coal miner stands in an empty storefront as signs advertising vacant apartments and stores hang in the windows along the main business street in Cumberland, Ky. (Photo by David Goldman/AP Photo)
In this Friday, January 7, 2011 photo, people carry baskets of coal scavenged illegally at an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand where a community of coal scavengers live and work. The world's biggest coal users – China, the United States and India – have boosted coal mining in 2017, in an abrupt departure from last year's record global decline for the heavily polluting fuel and a setback to efforts to rein in climate change emissions. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/AP Photo)
In this Wednesday, November 4, 2015, photo, vehicles work at an open-pit coal mine near Ordos in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)
In this photo taken Monday, November 21, 2016, Palestinian laborer Sami Abu Baker, 35, who has a fifteen years service in the charcoal factories, poses for a picture during a day work, in the West Bank town of Yabad, near Jenin. For years, residents of central Israel have been complaining about the air pollution emanating from nearby Palestinian factories in the West Bank and the potential health hazards they pose. But now that authorities have finally cracked down, shutting the worst offending charcoal plants, Palestinians say hundreds have been put out of work in a swift stamp of the military occupation. (Photo by Nasser Nasser/AP Photo)
In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, photo, a Norfolk Southern freight train hauling coal makes it way through downtown Pittsburgh. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord may have only limited immediate impact on many U.S. companies, according to analysts. The American Coal Council said the climate accord would put America at a competitive disadvantage and our nation's abundant energy resources under lock and key. The group said more than 90 percent of U.S. coal plants are equipped with advanced emissions controls, and that advances in technology will lead to further improvement. (Photo by Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)
In this Friday, October 28, 2016 photo bucket-wheel excavator stands on lignite at the LEAG (Lusatian Energy Stock Company) lignite open-cast mine in Jaenschwalde, eastern Germany. Scientists studying lifetime emissions of the world's current energy infrastructure say coal plants alone would blow the budget for 1.5 degrees C of warming, the lower threshold in the Paris climate agreement. (Photo by Michael Sohn/AP Photo)
A coal seller poses for a photo in a market in Managua, Nicaragua, Friday, November 4, 2016. (Photo by Esteban Felix/AP Photo)
In this Thursday, May 12, 2016 photo, coal miner Scott Tiller prepares to head into an underground mine less than 40-inches high at dusk in Welch, W.Va. “I don't think we're the cause of any climate change”, said Tiller. “Maybe somewhat but look at all these millions of automobiles running around putting out carbon, nobody's trying to stop them”. (Photo by David Goldman/AP Photo)
In this November 15, 2016 photo, a haul truck with a 250-ton capacity carries coal from the Spring Creek strip mine near Decker, Mont. President-elect Donald Trump's vow to revive coal country is met with measured hope in Appalachia and even out West, where mines stand to gain the most. (Photo by Matthew Brown/AP Photo)
A woman walks past Chinese paramilitary policemen wearing protection masks on Tiananmen Square in Beijing as the capital of China is blanketed by heavy smog on Wednesday, January 4, 2017. China has long faced some of the worst air pollution in the world, blamed on its reliance of coal for energy and factory production, as well as a surplus of older, less efficient cars on its roads. Inadequate controls on industry and lax enforcement of standards have worsened the pollution problem. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)
A passenger airliner flies past steam and white smoke emitted from a coal-fired power plant in Beijing, Tuesday, February 28, 2017. China's consumption of coal fell in 2016 for a third year in a row, official data showed Tuesday, as the world's top polluter increasingly grapples with its massive pollution challenges. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)
In this February 24, 2015 file photo, a worker covers his face to avoid rising dust at a coal-fired power plant, partially financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, under construction in Kudgi, India. Led by cutbacks in China and India, construction of new coal-fired power plants is falling worldwide, improving chances climate goals can be met despite earlier pessimism, three environmental groups said Wednesday, March 22, 2017. (Photo by Aijaz Rahi/AP Photo)
Piles of coal rest at a facility along the Ohio River as power transmission lines stand in the background, Friday, April 7, 2017, in Cincinnati. (Photo by John Minchillo/AP Photo)
In this April 4, 2013, file photo, a dragline excavator moves rocks above a coal seam at the Spring Creek Mine in Decker, Mont. President Donald Trump says withdrawing from a global climate change agreement will boost the U.S. economy but existing market forces have had far more of an effect on the fossil fuel industries than climate regulations. For at least three years now, the coal industry has been reeling from growing competition from natural gas, wind and solar power. (Photo by Matthew Brown/AP Photo)
In this Tuesday, November 3, 2015, photo, a worker guides a conveyor as it loads coal into a trailer truck at a coal mine near Ordos in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The world's biggest coal users - China, the United States and India - have boosted coal mining in 2017, in an abrupt departure from last year's record global decline for the heavily polluting fuel and a setback to efforts to rein in climate change emissions. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)
In this Thursday, June 30, 2016 photo, an old wagon filled with coal remains at the Rhondda Heritage Park, the former Lewis Menthyr Colliery in Pontypridd, South Wales. A modern highway connecting many former coal-mining towns in South Wales was partly funded by the European Union, but more than half of the Welsh electorate voted in last week's referendum for Britain to leave the EU, and maybe now the heavy industry which once provided thousands of jobs will never return. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)
Coal miner Scott Tiller crawls through an underground coal mine roughly 40-inches-high, Wednesday, May 11, 2016, in Welch, W.Va. (Photo by David Goldman/AP Photo)
Pakistani children jump down as they play on stock pile of coal in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. (Photo by Shakil Adil/AP Photo)
In this Thursday, May 12, 2016 photo, coal miner Scottie Stinson, front, drives a man trip as he and fellow workers head into an underground mine less than 40-inches high to start their shift in Welch, W.Va. (Photo by David Goldman/AP Photo)
28 Jun 2017 08:08:00,
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