Friday 26 January 2018

Coal mining, lies, obfuscation

Coal Mining around the world
 Oxymorons, such as 'Clean Coal' are accepted by some.  Like agriculture, mechanization has profoundly changed many fields, 'scuse the pun. Outsourcing has reduced work on this continent. This is why TPP and NAFTA are so important. Find a speciality, create the goods. MAGA doesn't work in this day and age.

Sadly, Trump is much concerned with what he calls trade imbalances. Truth is, our Canadian population is a fraction of the US, 36 million to 323 million. It makes more sense to trade goods, without a tariff, on the western part of the continent, across the border, and the same on the eastern coasts.

Hubby was reading some data in The Economist.

YEAR
1920       –785,000 coal miners in the USA.
2012      – it dropped to 90,000 miners.
2017      –50,000 miners in the USA.

1980       –Mines produced 1.9 tons per miner hour,
2017       –Mines can produce 6.3 tons per miner hour, 3x's more efficient!

"Some of Europe’s last remaining coal producers, in the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland, are grasping for government support to keep from going under and taking thousands of jobs with them.
Talks in Prague and Bucharest this week coincide with the news that the world’s largest private coal company, Peabody Energy, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S."


With Trump making a speech at Davos today, I wonder if it'll be the same old, same old!

Trump on the Affordable Healthcare Act: "You pay NOT to have insurance." No, you pay into a pot, to ensure that if you need it it will be there for you, just like life insurance.
Yet, 13 million will lose health insurance with his legislation.


8 comments:

Olga said...

My father and his father before him were coal miners in Pennsylvania. Clean coal??? Oxymoron, indeed. I certainly would not want my children or grandchildren to be coal miners. Let that industry die out.

Nancy J said...

Jenn, how much of the US and Trump decision making effects you in Canada? I would be so worried about health care if I was there, do you have to have health insurance to get hospital care?

DUTA said...

We quite often hear the slogan of 'Creating Jobs'. What kind of jobs?! People refuse to do vital, productive work.
So, here's modern slavery for you. Production jobs are either transferred to Asia, or immigrants are let in, sometimes under the guise of humanity, to do the vital work in construction, nursing, agriculture, industry etc...
This is not going to end well, since a country, ultimately, belongs to those who work for it and contribute to its economic growth.

William Kendall said...

He's a kleptocrat, just like Putin. One of the reasons he admires the Russian. He and his pals are just lining their pockets, just like Vladimir's spent years committing robbery writ large on his own country.

Red said...

Lies and damn lies are what it's all about.

The Furry Gnome said...

Interesting stats!

Kay said...

Trump always play to his base. And I just don't understand his base. What planet are they living on?

Jenn Jilks said...

Those are big questions, Jean!
We are totally separate from the US.
We have universal healthcare.
We turn up at the hospital and they take care of us!