• SaltSong@startrek.website
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    2 days ago

    I can’t imagine anyone sane wanting this. There are some innovations that I can see people wanting to roll back, but not this one.

    Unless you own a coal mine, or are owned by someone who owns a coal mine, this is stupidity from any angle.

  • TomMasz@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    2 days ago

    Not to worry, he’ll just replace those expensive professional miners with free slave labor. Salvadoran gulags can only hold so many, after all.

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    2 days ago

    The only people who want this are West Virginians. Their entire economy is, and has been, so invested in coal that it’s a 3rd world country up there. Watch some of Peter Santenello’s videos, but you may cry like I did.

    Who wants a coal plant?! Even conservative areas will scream NIMBY! NW Florida is as conservative as it gets and we’re going mad with solar farms.

    • silence7@slrpnk.netOPM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      2 days ago

      It was invested in coal. Then there were technical improvements which let mine owners replace people with equipment. So coal mining is now a fairly minor source of employment.

      • federal reverse@feddit.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        1 day ago

        Somewhat related: I recently took a tour through the now-defunct local coal plant. Before 1990, there were 4 teams of 20 people each running this single coal plant.

        Right now, just 4×5 people run power generation for the entire city (mostly fossil gas, but also some solar, wind and a large battery), although actually the plants are designed to work safely for 72h without manual intervention.

        • ohulancutash@feddit.uk
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 day ago

          You absolutely shouldn’t do this, but one Japanese operator was caught running a nuclear plant where the only people on the night shift were cleaners, who hadn’t even been told what their radiation badges were. They got a minor fine.

  • Carmakazi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    2 days ago

    Modern coal mining is a lean operation, not like the days of Blair Mountain and company towns and “coal country.” We’re talking about maybe tens of thousands of jobs, not millions, and we’re considering fucking over our entire biosphere to get there.

  • courageousstep@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 days ago

    Who convinced Trump that coal is worth going back to and what false data/logic did they use?

    I didn’t even know coal companies made enough money to lobby, anymore.