Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

A Fifth Generation Coal Miner From Appalachia Just Slammed Donald Trump for His Stance on Coal

A Fifth Generation Coal Miner From Appalachia Just Slammed Donald Trump for His Stance on Coal

He knows of what he speaks.

A fifth-generation coal miner from Virginia tore into President Donald Trump's stance on energy and the environment in a New York Times Op-Ed video published Tuesday. Nick Mullins told the president that despite his campaign promises:

coal mining isn't coming back and it's time to get real about it.


Mullins runs a blog called The Thoughtful Coal Miner.

In his message to Trump, Mullins said he is a "fifth-generation coal miner" and a "ninth-generation Appalachian" who worked in the coal industry for "four years." Mullins described the work as "dangerous" and having "long-term health impacts."

Trump has made coal miners and mining a focal point of his presidency, promising to "bring back coal" despite declines in demand and the health and environmental damage caused by coal.

Mullins said Trump made "false promises" that are "only going to line the pockets of coal executives while delaying the inevitable" collapse of the coal industry.

Last November, the president proudly tweeted that coal production had increased during his first year in office.

"If Trump really wants to help Appalachian communities that support him," Mullins reasoned, "lowering emissions standards is not the way to do it."

Mullins said the coal industry "has never been on the side of the coal miner," because companies who "built cultures" around coal did so "without regard for our safety."

He listed a few examples of the struggles faced by miners for Trump to consider.

"We're still having to fight for things like black lung benefits, workers compensation, and disability from injuries in the mines," Mullins noted. He added that even though mining towns have a reputation for being "conservative places, the majority of Appalachia's coal-producing counties voted for Al Gore" in the 2000 election.

Mullins said despite promises of labor protections by Democrats, "economic desperation" has "driven them to vote otherwise," and those miners who support Trump are in a fight to "defend ourselves against liberal stereotypes that we're unintelligent deplorables."

Trump's own EPA concluded in August, however, that the president's Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which grants states the right to set their own emissions standards, "result in up to 1,400 more premature deaths a year as of 2030."

CNN noted:

By the same year, the Obama administration's Clean Air Plan, which the new rule will replace, would have avoided 3,600 premature deaths due to pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Mullins then turned his attention to one of Trump's favorite taglines: "clean coal."

In his State of the Union speech earlier this year, Trump said he intends on ending "the war on beautiful, clean coal."

In May, Trump boasted on Twitter about the United States having "250 years worth of beautiful clean coal."

"Coal cannot be clean," Mullins said. "We know that firsthand." Mullins showed footage of "acidic mine drainage" oozing from his "family spring." He added that "coal slurry impoundments are real, they're leaching into our creeks, our rivers, and our lakes."

Mullins conceded that although miners "don't want to be told about climate change," they must "at some point" realize "the environmental impacts of the industry aren't a partisan issue."

They're a matter of life and death.

"We don't need short-term revivals of an industry that has always mistreated us," Mullins concluded. "We need long-term investments into our communities."

This is the only way to give justice to the communities who have sacrificed so much to provide the energy and steel that has made this country great.

Mullins' message garnered positive feedback on YouTube. Many people were thrilled to see a coal miner speaking the truth about his industry and its effects on the planet.

And as for the president?

More from People/donald-trump

Chris Pratt
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Chris Pratt Sparks Heated Debate Once Again With His Mother's Day Tribute On Instagram

In what has become a Mother's Day tradition, actor Chris Pratt thanked his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger for being mother to his four children. But the mother of his eldest child—son Jack, age 12—was noticeably absent from his annual Instagram post.

Again.

Keep ReadingShow less
Roger Stone; Mark Kelly
Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images

Roger Stone Slammed After Suggesting Dem Senator Should Be 'Executed' For Criticizing Trump

President Donald Trump's ally is facing heavy criticism after declaring that Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly should be charged with "treason" and "executed" for his dealings with a Chinese company that makes surveillance balloons.

Stone's remarks followed Kelly's comments on Trump's crypto coin scheme outlined in a now-rejected bill that aimed to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins, a type of digital asset designed to maintain a fixed $1 value, making it better suited for everyday transactions. Democrats said the legislation did not contain adequate standards to safeguard against corruption.

Keep ReadingShow less
Famous animal conservationist and zookeeper Robert Irwin
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Robert Irwin's Underwear Shoot Jokes

Animal rights activist and conservationist Robert Irwin discovered that the flirty DMs from fans of his sexy underwear campaign are “a dangerous place” to explore.

The son of the late Steve Irwin is all grown up, and the 21-year-old zookeeper recently modeled semi-nude for an Australian underwear company called Bonds, while wearing venomous snakes, lizards, spiders, alligators, comfy undies… and nothing else. Crikey!

Keep ReadingShow less
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Kristi Noem
Mario Tama/Getty Images; Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

AOC Offers Fiery Warning To Homeland Security If They Try To Arrest Dem Reps For ICE Protests

New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned the Department of Homeland Security that "we’re going to have a problem" after the department said they're looking into arresting three Democratic members of Congress who tried to tour an ICE detention center in New Jersey on Friday.

Ocasio-Cortez accused the Trump administration of unlawfully blocking New Jersey Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Robert Menendez and LaMonica McIver from visiting a detention facility where Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on Friday.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cory Monteith and Lea Michele
Steven A Henry/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Lea Michele Reveals Her Home Was On 'Hollywood Tragedy' Bus Tour After Cory Monteith's Death

Content Warning: Grief, Drug Abuse, Overdose

After the tragic passing of Cory Monteith, fellow Glee star Lea Michele faced a lot of scrutiny for how she handled the aftermath of his death.

Keep ReadingShow less