Trump facts?
TRUMP, announcing “the start of a new era” in energy: “We will put our miners back to work. … My administration is putting an end to the war on coal.”
THE FACTS: That era began a decade ago, when drilling companies used new techniques to extract vast amounts of natural gas and oil beneath Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, the Rockies and other regions of the country. The huge supply of natural gas has been a leading force in the decline of coal, and Trump’s steps to ease regulation on the coal industry can do little to change that. Advances in mechanization have further suppressed jobs in coal.
Far more jobs have come about in renewable-energy industries, such as solar and wind, than are produced by coal. The latest data show about 160,000 people are employed in U.S. coal mining and power-plant jobs, compared with 373,000 in solar and 101,000 in wind. Meantime oil production grew substantially during Barack Obama’s presidency despite his administration’s tightened regulation on that industry.
TRUMP, hailing his “energy independence action,” says: “Together, we are going to start a new energy revolution — one that celebrates American production on American soil.”
THE FACTS: The government’s own data show that the U.S. is already on the cusp of energy independence, driven by forces in play long before Trump’s election. The Energy Information Administration projects that the U.S. could switch from a net importer of energy to a net exporter as early as 2019, depending on what happens to oil prices, energy resources and economic growth.
Although Trump may celebrate — and in some ways advance — U.S. energy production, one of his most significant executive actions as president has been to open the country to another source of foreign oil, with his approval of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada.
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