Trump aide: Coal doesn't make much sense anymore.

Source

When even one of his aides tells you coal has no point...

You have to understand that Trump supporters aren't really big thinkers. It doesn't matter that everything he said was a complete lie. These people don't make decisions rationally, they are all based on emotion. As long as Trump appears to be thumbing his nose at "liberals" and the rest of the world, his goofy supporters aren't going to care what happens.

Trump supporter: he'll save coal jobs.

Trump: Ya, I'll save coal jobs

After election.

Trump: coal does not make sane anymore...

Making America poor again

And what fuel source does make sense exactly?

Just about every other one.

This graph is from the Wall Street Journal which isn't exactly a liberal publication.

Why ask that question here when you have Google?

Coal is cheap and readily available. Do you believe everyone using coal has the means to invest in geothermal, purchase a gas furnace, etc..,?

What will he be fired now let's hope so. New energy is better than coal in the long run.

@Solaryellow: Coal is not cheap it cost lots of money, the environment, and the health of human, animal and plant life.

LOL coal is not "cheap" nor is it "readily available". Coal plants are closing all over the world because it's a shit form of energy. Educate yourself.

For those arguing for coal use despite it's inefficiencies, I'll throw this out there as well: Even if that weren't the case, mining jobs will not come back in significant numbers because it's being entirely automated. As an example, the contractors we hired a a few months ago came in off a job in which they automated all of the manual labor for a gold mine except for machine repair. The entire mine is staffed with two people each shift whose sole purpose for employment is to fix the machines when they break down or encounter something they can't do yet.

Holy shit that's potentially very exciting. With Democrats already on board with phasing out fossil fuels, if Trump changes his mind (unlikely, but still) on the matter we could seriously see the beginning of a toppling of the defense of coal/oil which could be an unintentionally large step towards combatting climate change. Trump is supposedly going to make a decision on the Paris Climate Agreement when he gets back from his trip so we'll see. Frankly, I still expect to be disappointed, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I love the kids on this board who believe they know everything. You people crack me up. Where I live is known as a coal region. Antracite coal to be exact. It's plentiful and cheap and readily available. Look at the prices of a short ton and if you can not afford the price, you made some poor choices. If it wasn't cheap and readily available, why do many people continue using it?

You're talking to a staunch conservative.

He doesn't care about your "facts". Whatever his radio/tv told him is the law.

Will you answer any of the questions I asked above? Better yet, can you answer the questions?

Electricity? Oh wait, you buy coal and burn it yourself to heat up the house and everything else that needs heating?

Oil will live longer. Much longer.

Coal isn't only for power generation. Many of these people forget others use it as a viable source of heat. Stepping into a more modern age of energy and heating is great on the surface but obviously not everyone is privy to such a move. If you are asking if I buy it, no but I see the prices being advertised and it is not expensive. You should see the trains passing through my area towing dozens upon dozens of coal filled hoppers most likely making the journey to coal fueled power plants, local markets, etc..,

Where I live coal was never an option. Cheap hydro power though. For decades the government controlled it, build it, created a highly usable infrastructure around it so most people could get it.

Yeah, Oil has a lot of other uses. Fuel oil is only one of the many products from crude oil. And even there, fuel oil is very practical for some applications.

Except coal has been a freaking nightmare on the environment.

The merits, or lack there of, in terms of being environmentally sound and efficient are not in question.

It's stored energy not sustained. Coal is fine. People are dumb.

@Solaryellow: then you're talking about pa, probably NEPA. Coal prices have been climbing steadily the last decade and furnace manufacturs like keystroke are struggling, and so are the mines. Coal is going away. Time to move on.

I really fucking hate our president.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/report-trump-is-planning-to-pull-out-of-paris-climate-deal.html

Serraph105 Din't you vote for him, I wonder if so many people hate him as they say ,how the hell did he become the president or they started hating him after voting him?

When have I ever alluded to voting for Trump? For the record I voted for Hillary twice, but where did you get that idea from?

@Serraph105: That's good to know.If it gives you any consolation I despise the man myself.

Coal has been deemed a failure by the free market. And this was happening long before Obama enacted those evil regulations that kept our Saintly Coal companies from dumping waste into our water supply.

And lol @ the people who think America's social safety nets/welfare programs need to be slashed just because they've been abused by a small fraction of the populace.

And this is while these same people think corporate welfare (failed coal industry, manufacturing) and tax cuts to the richest 1% = sound economic policy. Lmao, like seriously, why do they even call themselves fiscally conservative again?

Regardless of the White House's opinion on coal, the market has had less and less demand for coal. Why would one choose to pay more for coal when one can pay less for the same product with natural gas or make more of an investment in the future by utilizing solar and/or wind?

Yup. And even as fuel it will be used for many years to come.

Norway might a goal of selling no fossil fueled cars by 2025 or 2030, but still loads of other countries that do not have these goals.

Damn it all! I hate him too.

Yup, here in sweden, fuel oil is still heavily used for public transport. Compared to you norwegians, we are trailing behind by quite a bit in that area. even for regular vehicles Norway, has roughly 4 times as many electric vehicles in use than sweden. And that is despite sweden having nearly twice the population.

It doesn't matter what Trump or any elected official says about coal. What matters is whether anyone is going to invest money into building a new coal plant knowing that it takes decades to get a solid return on that investment. The answer is no one is that stupid.

Moreover, the existing fleet of coal plants in the US are old with a capacity weighted average age of 39 years. As these wear out they are not going to be refurbished/replaced as the price of natural gas is so low and the price of renewable continues to drop.

It is over for coal. There is no business case.

Don't drink the Trump aid.

So does methane gas, our environment was much worse 200 million years ago than it could ever be today, from volcanic activity to dinosaur's farting..... Please stop farting.

Tax the F out of normal cars and remove tax (even VAT) on electrical cars and see what happens. Personally I hope I can buy an electrical car before the year ends.

You need to educate yourself as well.

Coal is by far the cheapest energy source compared to any other if you do not include nuclear, you should perhaps do us all a favor and at least use google.

The reason for coal plants closing is because of environmental reasons and because of the extra tax most western governments put on coal.

And as to Coal availability , clearly you need to educate yourself again. it´s not like it's being mined in 110 countries and on all continents.

No, the reason they are failing is because they aren't economically viable. This was repeated in the thread multiple times but once again you seem incapable of reading.

What did i write? again your reading and comprehension is severely lacking. And no the Coal plants are not failing.

The plants are faced with environmental and tax bills that makes it more expensive to use the coal. Not to mention general "pr" a company looks better to consumers if it has a concern for the environment.

Not because the coal itself is expensive, Again Coal is the least expensive source to use.

Have you ever inquired as to the price of coal? You know, short ton and such?

I have. And I also know that to build an energy plant requires you to calculate load/capacity factors, capital cost, fixed O&M cost, variable O&M (which includes input fuel cost such as the coal itself, or natural gas), and then any bonuses such as tax breaks and minuses such as carbon taxes. And you then have run this model over the likely lifespan of the asset to determine the business case.... such as a discounted cash flow return on equity calculation.

And I know that if you do this today in the US using reasonable assumptions about the costs of a new coal plant vs the costs of a new natural gas plant that coal loses every time.

Let me repeat: coal loses to natural gas, let alone renewables. And the only reason natural gas makes sense versus renewable is because it is dispatchable. A modern combined cycle natural gas plant is around 60% net efficiency and can spool up in 20 mins when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. While coal is not and cannot.

In summary, a natural gas plant is cheaper to build and run than a new coal plant, produces far less emissions, and is more easily dispatchable.

There is no coal business case. I know this because I am an executive in the energy business at a major company and it is my business to know this.

Finally, no one cares about coal as a heating source since that usage is trivial in the US.

Increase in natural gas usage has reduced US carbon foot print.