Coal in 2016

4th September 2024

Dear Madam Vice President,

A point that should be made in regards to the 2016 election is that Trump told the mining community that they will have jobs and Clinton told the world that coal mining companies needed to close. It gave a large part of the voting public the idea that Trump meant jobs and Clinton meant unemployment.

Trump lied but Clinton’s point was just as wrong. Companies need to evolve to live in the future not die. A company that made typewriters can make other things. Royal was a big typewriter company back in the day, and it was founded in 1904 but it still makes things today even as it was founded to make typewriters.

The point is that we need a plan for Coal Country America. We need a plan for hope in the small towns who view Donald Trump as the man who will save their way of life. The economic engine of the coal mine is at its end and we need to find a new engine to fuel small town America.

Much as the coal furnaces that once powered our turbines have given way to solar panels so must the mines give way to a new form of power. What that may be I couldn’t say. I would encourage a green future, but I don’t know what would work in this situation.

What I do know is that innovation often brings humanity into the cities and away from the small towns which breeds poverty and homelessness. The loss of the steam engine in trains left many a small rail stop as a ghost town.

The important thing is that small town America needs to know that you’re on their side. The people need to know that you are here to make the transition away from coal as painless and beneficial as possible.

God Bless America,


Richard Leland Neal