Commentary: Trump's love affair with coal won't save the industry from extinction

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He’s a cute little fella, decked out in his reflective vest, hard hat and work boots, with his big eyes and a fixed grin.Meet “Coalie,” who joins the army of official and semiofficial mascots making government and commercial pitches go down easier for you and me, like Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog and Franklin the Fair Housing Fox.Coalie, however, isn’t selling forest fire prevention or personal safety awareness or fair housing regulations.He’s trying to sell Americans on the dirtiest fuel in the energy arsenal — and one of the most expensive.

Basically, this mascot is carrying the flag for a quixotic battle to save a dying industry.We’re ending Joe Biden’s war on beautiful, clean coal.— President TrumpPresident Trump has long promoted a revival of the coal industry as one of his signature policies.

He took the first steps in that direction during his first term, but has stepped up the effort during the current term.He seldom refers to coal without the modifiers “clean” and “beautiful.” We should quibble with those adjectives.

In April, Trump signed a sheaf of executive orders that would allow aging coal plants slated for retirement to remain open, allow coal mining on federal lands and grant exemptions for coal plants from government mandates to reduce emissions of mercury, benzene, arsenic and other toxins.Commentary on economics and more from a Pulitzer Prize winner.

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy.“We’re ending Joe Biden’s war on beautiful, clean coal,” Trump declared at the White House signing ceremony on April 8.

“We’re putting you back to work,” he told miners at the ceremony.In February, Trump collected a trophy naming him the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal” from Jim Grech, the chief executive officer of Peabody Energy, a major coal producer that had filed for ba...