Hillary and the coal miners (while you’re waiting for election results)

Last updated on: March 15, 2016 at 12:16 pm by Jane the Actuary

Hillary and the coal miners (while you’re waiting for election results) 2016-03-15T12:16:28-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

At the CNN Town Hall on Sunday night, Hillary had a gaffe — that is, a moment of honesty — in which she said, “We’re going to put a lot of coal companies and coal miners out of business.” This was, to be sure, followed up by a list of programs she has in mind to help those former coal miners and coal mining regions, but there it is.

As Mother Jones observes (yes, Mother Jones is a handy source here), coal is already being battered by competition from natural gas, now in abundance due to fracking, as well as very much at risk of further battering by the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, if these regulations, now held up in court, are ultimately implemented. At the same time, Clinton and Sanders have both pledged to end fracking — Sanders via an outright ban, and Clinton via regulations that she intends to be so onerous as to functionally be a ban as well — so that Mother Jones suggests that the coal industry might prosper after all.

But what about Clinton’s programs to help those regions (described in an earlier Mother Jones article to which the latter one links, and laid out in a policy paper here)?

Part of her plan is just to direct social welfare spending towards impacted miners and mining communities: promising that not just pension benefits (via the PBGC) but retiree healthcare benefits of future bankrupt coal or related companies will be provided by the federal government (note that companies pay “insurance premiums” into the PBGC already, but there is no equivalent for retiree medical), promising a reform of an existing “black lung” healthcare program, and promising additional funds for any school district impacted by a closed mine or other business.

But the remainder is a general economic development for coal mining regions. She promises new roads, bridges, airports, site remediation of coal mines, government-provided broadband internet, additional R&D spending at universities in coal-mining areas, and special tax credits for development in these areas. She promises to develop dams in Western mining areas (which is a surprise — I thought dams were being torn down, these days, for environmental reasons). And she promises a program to link up existing federal programs such as small business assistance, job training programs (plus her free community college/state college program), community health centers, arts and cultural development (e.g., tourism), and programs to improve the quality and energy efficiency of housing.

But how much sense does all of this make? You can’t replace coal mining with tourism. There aren’t enough tourists. You can’t develop economies by infusing government cash for housing programs, or job training programs, and, while healthcare assistance may well be needed, it’s not going to build the economy, except for an economy of service providers to government benefit recipients. Coal mining regions are in mountainous and, generally, sparsely populated areas — not prime locations for major corporations to locate. If the coal mines are shut down, there’s not much of an obvious draw to the region, no reason why any new industry or corporation would be drawn here rather than elsewhere. And, as it is, so far as I understand, there is already a migration from these areas by the young and ambitious.

So, what do you do?

Uncategorized

coal miners

Hillary Clinton

Previous Post

March 15, 2016

I voted! Did you?

Next Post

March 15, 2016 Watching the election returns

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the Roman emperor when Jesus was crucified?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Caligula Augustus Tiberius Nero