"It Was Beauty That Killed The Beast"

What caused coal’s decline? It wasn’t Obama’s rules, study says

Bill Estep, May 4, 2017 (Lexington Herald Leader)

“Competition from cheap natural gas accounts for nearly half the decline in domestic U.S. coal consumption in recent years… Lower demand for electricity and growing use of renewable energy such as solar power also took a bite out of coal’s market share… Tougher federal environmental regulations also played a role in coal’s decline, but those rules were a significantly smaller factor than reductions in the cost of natural gas and renewable energy, [according to Can Coal Make A Comeback?] from Columbia University researchers…The researchers said that [President Trump’s promised ‘renaissance in U.S. coal production and employment’ is unlikely. They also concluded that an aggressive effort to roll back the coal-related environmental regulations from the Obama Administration] could help turn around the decline in domestic coal consumption. But that would rely on an increase in natural gas prices, and coal still wouldn’t fully recover…” click here for more

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