Al Gore held a town hall event on CNN about climate change. Stacey Moeller, a Democrat from Wyoming, asked Gore if he saw any moral or ethical issues with tossing thousands of people out of work when there are no jobs in these communities to replace the ones lost in the coal market. She said she cares about the environment, but couldn’t vote Democratic in the last election. CNN host Anderson Cooper also added that scores of coal miners voted for Trump in 2016 on his promise to end the regulatory onslaught on the coal mining industry that was launched under the Obama administration.
Al Gore: "We all have a moral obligation" to help coal miners find jobs that are as good or better. #algoretownhall https://t.co/mZ4UlcD5fH
— CNN (@CNN) August 2, 2017
Gore said that there was a moral obligation to help coal miners find new jobs, maybe even better jobs, and provide the training for such employment. Workers in other sectors have been hearing about job retraining for years whenever a new free trade agreement is being debated on the Hill. They know it’s a crock. Gore made some points about the shifts in the coal market, the automated phase it’s undergone that cut jobs and the undercapitalization that hurt jobs, but let’s not forget the Obama White House’s war on coal. A war that if he had won, and some could argue that he has in some way, could have cost us over 125,000 jobs, $90 billion in wages, and $650 billion in lost economic activity over a ten year period thanks to Obama wrapping red tape around this industry’s neck.
Let’s not forget Hillary Clinton’s remarks about coal miners during the 2016 election: she wanted to put them out of business. Yet, have no fear; she had a $30 billion “sorry, I screwed you over” support package for these workers, which would do nothing with the amount in lost wages. Even Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a friend of the Clintons, found the remark appalling. So, it should come to no one's surprise that she lost that primary. It just shows the disconnect between urban and rural. The ivory tower progressives view the destruction of coal miner’s livelihoods as a positive in the fight to save the planet from the phantom threat of global warming. Everyone else would see this as nothing more than a quasi-regional genocide of a region’s economic life blood.
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Gore’s remarks are all talk and no action. He probably doesn't care, and neither does any tree-hugging lefty out there. The condescending ethos of American liberalism cannot afford empathy for these people. They’re engaging in an immoral practice of coal mining that’s contributing to killing the Earth. They’re dinosaurs. The profession is over, so screw them. Also, why can’t they find another way to make a living?
That’s the typical green warrior there. Democrats are willing to subject thousands of families to economic ruin and destitution because it gets hot during the summer and cold during the winter. So, when big liberals, like Gore and company, say there’s this moral obligation to help miners, everyone should be skeptical. Keeping the coal industry alive is directly in conflict with the wider mission of reducing carbon emissions. It cannot be allowed to survive. They’re lying to you when they say they care. Period. For goodness sake, coal miners endured an eight-year assault on how they make a living from a liberal Democrat. The urban professional left that runs the national party couldn’t care less about miners. It’s sad because you see the look of worry and anxiety on Stacey’s face over what she’s seen in her community. You also saw Gore’s admission that what he just said about replacement jobs doesn’t bring much comfort. That’s the sign. He’s not running for office. He can say whatever he needs to say in order to make those who support his cause not look like insensitive ghouls that they are when it comes to people in this industry.
For the coal miner, at least you now have a president and an agenda that strives to help you get back to work. It’s a baby step, but at least we’re heading in the right direction on coal with Donald J. Trump.
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