One thing I learned about the coal miners. That's what they want to do. You could give them a penthouse on Fifth Avenue and a different kind of a job, and they'd be unhappy. They want to mine coal. That's what they love to do. I'm going to predict that they would take the penthouse over the coal mining. [00:00:15] Just just a guess. But apparently, coal miners would rather pass up a comfortable lifestyle for the thrill of doing a job that is, in fact, incredibly dangerous and oftentimes leads to pretty severe respiratory illnesses that could be deadly. [00:00:33] But look, I'm not at all trying to criticize coal miners. They're trying to make a living. So I totally understand individuals employed in that area not wanting to move away from coal mining, like it's important to understand where they're coming from. [00:00:50] But Donald Trump, speaking on their behalf and making it appear as though like, these guys don't want a nice life. They just want to they want to mine coal. No, I think they want a stable income. And the way that they've been able to get that is through coal mining. But nonetheless, President Trump made those comments during the signing [00:01:08] of multiple executive orders that aim to revive the coal mining industry in the United States. Which makes me think of Germany, to be honest with you, because Germany decided to decommission their nuclear power plants because nuclear bad, [00:01:26] even though it's a very it's like the cleanest form of energy and replace it with coal mining, which is really, really bad for the environment. I think that's dumb, but okay. So we'll get to more on, the signing ceremony in just a second. [00:01:43] But first, let me give you some more details about the executive orders that he signed. The first directs all departments and agencies to end all discriminatory policies against the coal industry, including by ending the leasing moratorium on coal and federal on federal land, [00:01:58] and accelerate all permitted funding for coal projects. The second imposes a moratorium on the unscientific and unrealistic policies enacted by the Biden administration to protect coal power plants currently operating. The third promotes grid security and reliability. [00:02:16] We need nuclear power by ensuring that grid policies are focused on secure and effective energy production. Nuclear power, as opposed to woke policies that discriminate against secure sources of power like nuclear power. He believes, like coal and other fossil fuels. [00:02:33] For those watching, you know that I added the nuclear power parts to that statement. But for those listening to the audio version, I'm the one who mentioned the nuclear power parts, not Trump. Now, we should be focusing on nuclear, in my opinion. Again, if you are serious in your concerns about the climate disaster, [00:02:54] the climate emergency, our renewable energies are not enough to carry us. We need a another reliable, clean source of energy. And at least in the short term, I personally think instead of going to coal, [00:03:10] we should maybe go to our nuclear reactors that are offline and bring them back online until we develop, you know, other forms of energy that are clean, reliable, stable. We don't have that yet, unfortunately. Now, the fourth executive order instructs the Department of Justice [00:03:27] to vigorously pursue and investigate the unconstitutional policies of radical leftist states that discriminate against coal. So let's take a look at this video. This is a very important day to me, [00:03:44] because we're bringing back an industry that was abandoned, despite the fact that it was just about the best, certainly the best in terms of power, real power. Today we're taking historic action to help American workers, miners, [00:04:00] families and consumers. We're ending Joe Biden's war on beautiful, clean coal once and for all. And it wasn't just Biden, it was Obama. And there were others. - But we're doing the exact opposite. - Obama. [00:04:18] Now, look, Biden did, in fact, tighten regulations, which are in fact expected to shut down many US coal plants. But the coal industry has been struggling, and they were struggling well before the Biden administration or well before the Biden administration [00:04:36] implemented new regulations. Why? Well, because of the various sources of energy. Coal happens to be the dirtiest. It's the worst for the environment. And look, environmental regulations make it difficult to mine for coal, for sure. [00:04:53] And then there's also competition. I mean, you believe in capitalism, right? Trump competition from less expensive air, like less expensive sources of energy like natural gas and renewable sources, is what has basically taken coal companies, out of business. [00:05:11] So rising mining costs, environmental regulation and competition from natural gas and renewables all contributed to coal production in 2023, declining to less than half of its 2008 production peak. The Energy Information Administration reported on Tuesday. [00:05:26] But according to Trump, it's all Democrats fault. Okay, so look, let's hear more from Trump, because it wasn't just Biden he took shots at. In the first campaign where Hillary Clinton was about four states too early, and she was talking about how bad coal was and how they were going to teach coal [00:05:46] miners how to make widgets and gadgets and technology, which they didn't want to do. They want to mine one thing I learned about the coal miners. That's what they want to do. You could give them a penthouse on Fifth Avenue and a different kind of a job, and they'd be unhappy. They want to mine coal. That's what they love to do. [00:06:02] And she was going to put them in a high tech industry where you make little cell phones and things. I don't know, do you think he'd be good at that? I don't know. Okay, first off, Hillary Clinton did step in it during the 2016 election [00:06:21] when she essentially said that we're going to teach coal miners how to code. She didn't specifically say they're going to be making or manufacturing little cell phones. And when I say she stepped in it, I mean it because it was such a. [00:06:36] As someone who's trying to win a presidential election, in my opinion, it was a callous way of responding to a very, very real concern that coal miners have in regard to losing their livelihoods. Right. You have to have a better plan than we're going to teach them how to code. [00:06:53] It's like a completely different industry, a completely different sector of the economy. So I don't blame Trump for picking at Hillary Clinton. However, I do find it fascinating that he's looking down his nose at phone manufacturing because his own Commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, [00:07:14] said this over the weekend. The factories being built in America are huge. That takes years. And you've said that robots are going to fill those jobs. So those aren't. - Really automated. - Jobs. It's automated factories, automated factories. [00:07:30] But the key is who's going to build the factories? Who's going to operate the factories, who's going to make them work? Great American workers. You know. You said robots on other networks, armies of. Millions of people. Well, remember the army of millions and millions of human beings [00:07:45] screwing in little, little screws to make iPhones, that kind of thing is going to come to America. It's going to be automated. And great Americans, the trade craft of America is going to fix them. It's going to work on them. Screwing in tiny little screws for iPhones. [00:08:02] It's a dream job. It is a dream job, but not according to Donald Trump. Maybe he needs to reach out to Howard Lutnick. So they get their messaging, you know, messaging together. So they're saying the same things? No. But look, in all seriousness, I think Howard Lutnick, [00:08:20] this is my conspiracy theory. I think Howard Lutnick is trying to sabotage the Trump administration, okay? Because he says ridiculous things that tend to conflict with the Trump administration. To be quite honest with you, I think Scott Bessent, who's the Commerce secretary? [00:08:37] I'm sorry. The Treasury secretary does a better job in communicating, even though he's kind of in a rough spot. You can tell he doesn't like Trump's tariffs, but is tasked with defending them during press interviews. But with Howard Lutnick, I think he's super salty that he didn't get picked for the role. [00:08:55] He really, really wanted to be the Treasury secretary. He did not want to be the Commerce secretary. And he's going around talking about how, yeah, we're going to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States so they can be employed by robots. Then he's talking about, you know, screwing in tiny little screws on iPhones [00:09:11] and how that's like the great, great trade craft of the American people. Anyway. But nonetheless, let's get back to the whole notion of bringing coal mining back to the United States. What will Trump's executive orders actually lead to a revival [00:09:26] of coal mining in the US? Well, according to Politico, these orders will likely keep the few existing coal plants open. But utility companies have indicated not just now, but for years, that they have no plans to build new coal mines or essentially mine for coal, [00:09:44] in different areas or new areas. So according to, the president of power grid consulting firm Grid Strategies and former economic advisor at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, I don't think this order changes the facts that coal fired power plants [00:10:01] are old, expensive to run, and unlikely to operate very often or for many more years. The plants will likely be kept online longer than believed a few years ago due to an uptick in power demand, but that is unrelated to this order. [00:10:19] So here you have the president, you know, dipping back into 2016 greatest hits. It's not really going to do much. But I do, want to know if those coal miners appreciate Trump speaking on their behalf in regard to how they want to live, what kind of comforts [00:10:36] they're willing to give up. Nonetheless, I can understand why they would want to keep their job. So I understand that interest. But I think most people want to live a comfortable life. Most people want to have a stable income, just that working in the coal industry is not the best path forward for that. [00:10:52] Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets its wings. Totally not true, but it does keep you updated on our live shows.