New coal policies are invariably announced in front of a group of workers wearing hard hats with lights affixed, and often in Pennsylvania for good measure. One might assume the mining profession is a huge economic force and under constant threat which must be fended off to preserve families and livelihoods.
As a profession, coal mining employs about 40,000 people in the US.
Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data).
Construction Management requires similar levels of education and experience and according to employment statistics enjoys a similar pay scale. There are 10x to 20x more Contruction Managers in the US.
Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data).
Coal policies are not driven by concern for workers. Coal policies are driven by concern for fossil fuel profits, which have only been made possible by externalizing the cost of the damage to human health and acceleration of global warming.