Trump touts new coal mine, ignores clean energy jobs

After all his promises to make coal mining great again, the first new coal mine since his inauguration is about to open in Pennsylvania, creating a whopping 70 new jobs. While those jobs will surely be appreciated by those who get them, new jobs in coal is not a trend that people can count on. The Acosta Mine, which had been planned before the Trump administration began, is for metallurgical coal used in steel production and represents only 5-10% of the coal market. In total, the U.S. coal industry employs roughly 160,000 workers—fewer employees nationwide than Arby's. And even that number is steadily dropping as market powers continue to reduce coal power. By contrast, jobs in the solar industry have been growing by more than 20 percent for four consecutive years, bringing the industry’s total to 370,000 workers. Clean energy jobs are booming while coal jobs won’t be coming back—no matter what Trump says.