The US exports coal and could export a great deal more.

"You can come right out of high school and make$70,000 a year," said Missy Perdue, 22, a stay-at-home mother whose husband, Jeff Perdue, Jr., 22, is a miner.Apr 7, 2010

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The author of the article isn't from Yale. He's a professor at the West Virginia University College of Law.

Coal is definitely on the decline, but it's far from dead. Last year was the first time in the US that natural gas electricity production surpassed coal, partially due to the decrease in gas prices due to shale plays. However, as natural gas prices are expected to climb short term, coal is expected to regain some share. https://www.eia.gov/.../detail.php?id=29872

And with respect to exporting coal to China, that is also a possibility. In 2016, China imported 225.5 million tonnes. The US only exported 74 million tonnes (from a total production of ~ 600 million tonnes). Coal is a global commodity, it doesn't matter where it's from, the cost remains the same. Increased labour costs only decrease profits for the owners, it doesn't effect the price per tonne. Smaller profits are better than no profits.

Additionally, the majority of the coal mined in the US is from Wyoming due to it's low SO2 content. Unfortunately, it's also subbituminous which generates less BTU/lb than bituminous coal. However, the bituminous coal found on the east coast has high SO2 content. The high SO2 content increases the cost of the electricity produced from bituminous coal due to the extra scrubbing requirements. If the EPA loosens the emissions requirements, the bituminous coal becomes more lucrative. What are the environmental regulations like in China? How about India?

Don't get me wrong, I dislike Trump and hate coal. But coal will be with us for some time.

I sell industrial equipment for a living, are you telling me that it's normal to require pick up trucks to have an "environmentally approved" $150 drip pan placed under them as soon as they're parked due to the potential of an oil spill? Just remember, that parking lot at your local grocery store doesn't force everyday citizens to place a drip pan underneath their car which is just as likely to piss oil out on the parking lot.

Huh?? What does this have to do with anything on this thread? I've talked to my buddy in the USA who works very closely with the coal industry selling industrial chimney scrubbers. He tells me that they are doing virtually no business in the USA but a ton of business in Asia (China and India). All of which will be very bad for global warming. He tells me the reason they don't sell in the USA is that coal can't compete with natural gas.

Um maybe it's because they're actually installing them, unlike the US where they already exist.

Sorry Canuckian but you may have to adjust your optimist appraisal. Literally two after the election coal shipments by rail went crazy, along with evil oil and fracking sand. A power plant near Detroit ordered 52 train loads of coal a month. That's 100+ railcars per train which I believe converts to 5trucks per railcar which is all going to being fired up shooting some coal dust your way. Enjoy.

High labour costs are a distraction, the real reason for jobs going overseas is directly related to the lack of enforcement of labour & environmental regulations. But hey, go ahead - keep blaming the worker if that's what it takes to stick to the party message.

My point exactly. Thank you for proving it. How are you going to compete against labor costs in China or India if you're thinking exporting it. And then its almost a dead product on the domestic market. Coal generating plants can't compete against natural gas. . Donny is telling fibs.