When Donald Trump promised during his 2016 campaign to ‘make coal mining great again,’ little did he know that the industry would rebound the way it will in 2022.
But that’s not going to be a good thing, either.
Trump as the president worked to revive the coal mining industry because even though fewer and fewer power plants utilize the fossil fuel domestically, there is a massive global market for coal in the developing world. China and India, for instance, have voracious appetites for coal as most of their power plants coming online burn coal to generate power (and they do that because coal is far cheaper than natural gas and nuclear power).
But because the Biden regime is being run by insane leftists whose agenda includes crashing the country so they can rebuild it in their Marxist image, American coal production is taking a hit again just as demand for coal is skyrocketing thanks to renewed demand following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Only, there isn’t going to be enough to go around, unfortunately, and that will result in a dramatic loss of power for wide swaths of the country that still depend on coal-fired plants for their electricity.
As Bloomberg Green reports, coal miners will be busy next year:
Almost every lump of coal that U.S. miners will dig out of the ground next year has already been sold, as surging natural gas prices prompt utilities to burn more of the dirtiest fossil fuel.
Peabody Energy Corp., the top American supplier, has contracts for more than 90% of its coal from the Powder River Basin region next year and all of the power-plant fuel from its other U.S. mines. And Arch Resources Inc., the No. 2 producer, has lined up deals with utilities for all of its 2022 output from the basin at an average price that’s 20% higher than current spot prices.
Demand for electricity is surging as the global economy recovers from the pandemic and winter approaches, driving natural gas prices to record highs. Even with coal miners boosting output next year, power producers are signing multi-year contracts for every ton they can get.
“It’s pretty much sold out,” Peabody Chief Executive Officer Jim Grech said last week during a conference call. “We only have a small portion left to be sold for 2022 and for 2023.”
Again, good news for coal miners (and for those concerned about the environment, as coal mining increased during the Trump years, U.S. emissions actually fell to their lowest levels since 1983 — and no, that’s not a misprint).
But there are several problems with this development:
— The demand for energy is increasing as the country and world emerge from the pandemic. But U.S. coal inventories are already sold out more than a year in advance; what happens if coal demand outstrips mines’ ability to produce it? That’s pretty simple: Power outages.
— What’s more, high demand coupled with low supplies equals inflation: Higher coal prices. And in fact, coal prices are already up, as Bloomberg Green noted.
— If power plants can’t get coal, many of them will burn natural gas. But it, too, has dramatically increased in price, so our electric bills will go up. They already are.
— If the Biden regime manages to get enough Democrats to finally come together and pass his massive spending bills, there will be “historic investments” in green energy production. But as we’ve seen in Europe, too much reliance on green energy is dangerous because wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. Plus, green energy is far more expensive to produce.
— Finally, the demand for energy will only increase as well with new ‘electric vehicle’ initiatives and incentives — at a time when a) we can’t produce enough energy; and b) what is produced is skyrocketing in price.
You may have hated Trump’s tweets, but he had our country energy independent. Biden’s Marxists have ruined that, and things are about to get a lot worse.
Sources include:
Image by hangela from Pixabay.
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We just launched a new GiveSendGo page. We also have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker
