As was expected, Republican President Donald Trump has made good on his promise to screw future generations and accelerate global warming. Under the false pretense of bringing back coal mining jobs, the President is reversing rules that would have limited climate changing greenhouse gasses.

Experts, including coal industry executives, have conceded that these actions will not bring back coal mining jobs. Coal usage has been declining in this country for decades and virtually none of the decline is due to clean air regulations. Natural gas is more efficient and cheaper. Wind and solar are very competitive in parts of the country. Efficiency gains have greatly slowed the need to increase power generation capacity.

In addition, the nature of coal mining has changed. Most coal is now taken out of the ground thru strip mining or mountain top removal. The days of sending hoards of coal miners into tunnels to dig and remove coal are largely gone. Coal mining techniques have changed and like just about every other industry, greatly reduced the need for labor.

So while these rule changes will have a profound and drastic impact on future climate change, they will not bring back coal mining jobs. Not today. Not next week. Not ever!