MAKE AMERICA COUGH AGAIN

Trump’s Love Affair with 19th Century Energy Solutions

In a nostalgic tribute to the Industrial Revolution, President Trump signed four executive orders Tuesday aimed at resurrecting that most beloved of prehistoric fuels: coal. Because nothing says “America First” quite like prioritizing a 19th-century energy source in the 21st century.

Surrounded by miners wearing suspiciously pristine white hard hats (surely a daily occurrence in the coal mines), Trump proudly announced his plan to have the Justice Department battle those states who he thinks have an unreasonable desire to end black lung disease.

“We’re bringing back an industry that was abandoned,” Trump declared, conveniently forgetting that it was the coal industry itself that perfected the art of abandonment. Coal companies have mastered the “extract-and-exit” business model — mining communities for resources and workers before abandoning entire towns once profitability dwindled, leaving behind economic wastelands and environmental disaster zones. These corporate champions of communi…