Nowhere in America can the coal industry’s hurt be seen and felt more than in Appalachia. The region’s economy revolves around coal, and more miners are losing their jobs each year. The controversial industry became a focal point of the 2016 election when President Trump made the return of coal jobs a central campaign promise, but the economics behind this suffering industry extend beyond policy and regulations.
VICE’s Isobel Yeung goes to the heart of coal country to see what it will take to save Appalachia.
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31 Comments
VICE’s Isobel Yeung goes to the heart of coal country to see what it will take to save Appalachia.
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And he did nothing for them….LOL
Democrats can't win here because they won't like about bringing coal jobs back. Republicans tell lies without batting an eyelid.
Most of these guys are in their 40’s to 50’s. To them, it’s a family or even a local cultural tradition. It would be pretty hard for some dude in his 50’s with black lung try to find a job if he was laid off…..it’s not that simple just to “find another job”.
The people working in these mines are the best people on the planet. God bless them
damn shout out to my mans with the DOOM shirt
Steve Bannon said it right to the core of the heart of the Americans people, cooperation favour immigration purely for the cause of cheaper labour and they used humanity as a weapon to abandoned the need and the financial position of the working middle class. The establishment is such a corrupt that even the politicians are controlled by the cooperation.
Renewable energy industry opportunities would save WV. There is a way forward. But WV has to recognize that coal is not coming back and accept the help the current administration is trying to give them for training and infrastructure in new technologies.
Stop voting against your own self interest. Think of your children.
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So what happens when they're done hollowing out the entire mountain?
When trump said make america great again, he meant I'm going to make the owner's on wallstreet richer.
You can tell a lot about a person's honesty when they promise that coal jobs will return.
They had literally 50 years of warning. America is the least proactive developed country.
I love how impartial this was delivered. Well done!
Trump came to WV and made a bunch of empty promises. He didn't do anything. Typical of a politician.
But LIKE ALL his POOR /MIDDLE CLASS WORKERS, he has DONE NOTHING ! 4 years of CHAOS , 500,000’PLUS DEAD Americans , SUPER SPREADER RALLIES , LIES , RUSSIA STOOGE Distractions !
Coal will come back up when they need the carbon silicates for computers.
Coming from a Liberal and acknowledging that Vice tends to be more left leaning, I'm really happy they ran this episode. The idea that all Trump supporters are uneducated, insulated and racist is quite a classist outlook, and silences the voice of millions of Americans who really do (and understandably so) feel forgotten. Props to Isobel for another great segment!
"Rusty justice".. brilliant name 😄
I keep seeing the same kind of documentaries all landing on or dancing around the one main important point. These people just want to live. They support people that support coal, because to them they are coal. Coal is their life, its their history, its their only option to put food on the table. If you can start trying to train them for other avenues, help create new jobs in those towns that are seperate to the coal industry then people can start to fear less fearful at the idea of coal going away because hopefully they can see and access other alternative careers.
Permaculture as a way to both repair the land and also as a way to provide food feels like a genuinely great option and should be taught at ever town associated with mining. Even if some people look into it as a way to feed the miners stuff that hasnt had to be imported it's a startign point.
I come from a very long line of coal miners in West Virginia. My family has been mining coal for at least 200 years, and the downfall of the coal industry hit my family very hard. I also come from a long line of Irish and Italian immigrants, which happen to be a large demographic of coal miners in the Appalachian region. I have family members who are still currently in the coal mines, or what is left of them, but they constantly have to worry about when they are going to be laid off. My family didn’t have to worry much about money until the fall of coal mining, and now they all live under or near the poverty line. My grandfathers, great grandfathers, 2nd great grandfathers, and so on were all miners. I wholeheartedly agree that we need to advance technologically and start moving towards clean energy, but it is going to hurt this region even more than it is now once coal mining becomes completely eradicated. We are truly at a standstill. We have no money to put towards drastic technological/industrial changes because all of the money we had left when coal mining left. West Virginia, up until recently, was a democratic voting state and it’s all because we were able to keep our coal. Now, our state constantly gets ridiculed for voting strictly republican, but republicans are the only people who have showed interest or promised to keep the coal industry running! You can’t blame any of them. We are nothing without coal. Unless some miraculous funding to introduce new tech and industry into the region appears, Appalachians are going to try and keep coal for as long as possible so that our families don’t suffer further than they already are. It is so sad.
Humanity is so depressing… they’ll sell out their childrens future
It’s crazy how the poor in this country are obese!!!
For every coal fired plant We shut down in America countries like china an india build 5 or more new ones. Climate change is part of the earths natural cycle and has been around for over a billion years . Both Carbon Dioxide as well as temperatures have fluctuated drastically for the same amount of time . Warm and cold periods are a natural cycle.
very bright kids.
Poor people. Hillary was giving it to them straight. Trump was just
telling them what they wanted to hear and playing on their desperation
in exchange for their votes. Hillary wanted to prepare them by pushing
for training for other types of jobs. Trump won and forgot all about
them after they'd given him what he wanted.
Who's side are you on
Would appreciate a follow up doc, hearing how these same people see their situation today, and who they feel is responsible.
‘Coal has been in my family’…… ok, times r changing….. I went to school as a middle age single mom and I did it. I have a good different job.
I do not u set stand why they have Such a hard time rEcognizing the need for change….. future is in another direction It is Possible to change Even as a adult.
Why can this generation not work for change???
Long love the mines
‘ how Trump won coal country ‘
“ I will not destroy your careers “
Boy what a crazy idea to garner support.