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Coal Industry Favors Withdrawal from Climate Agreement

June 5, 2017

The U.S. coal industry (Trump’s favorite: “I happen to love the coal miners.”) supports the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, citing its effect on coal and the economy.

“We believe that abiding by the accord, without significant changes, would have substantially impacted the U.S. economy, increased electricity costs and required the power sector to rely on less diverse and more intermittent energy,” said a statement from Peabody Energy Corp, the largest coal producer in the United States. “Peabody continues to advocate for greater use of technology to meet the world’s need for energy security, economic growth and energy solutions through high-efficiency low-emissions coal-fueled power plants, and research and development funding for carbon capture.”

Peabody’s sentiment was echoed by Arch Coal, Cloud Peak Energy and Murray Energy.

In his Rose Garden statement, President Trump said the Paris agreement “blocks the development of clean coal in America.” He went on, “In short, the agreement doesn’t eliminate coal jobs, it just transfers those jobs out of America and ships them to foreign countries. This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States.”

Trump touted the opening of “brand new mine” and the return of coal jobs. Most analysts agree that coal job losses are the result of a shift toward greater use of cheaper natural gas and lower international demand.