| >I wouldn't say we are going technologically backwards if you take a systemic look at energy, manufacturing, & infrastructure. It's going backwards because we need to be at the cutting edge, which is renewables. Trump is facing the past, when the US was great partly because of coal, rather than looking to where things are going in the future. >Coal power is also inexpensive But natural gas is even cheaper, and wind and solar are becoming so. >cleaner than ever But it is still much less clean than renewables, or even natural gas. >Coal can also be converted to diesel allowing states to create their own energy & reducing our need for foreign fuel sources. That's expensive, diesel pollutes, and besides fracking is already replacing foreign oil. >Even if we decide to move toward renewable resources, having this coal stockpile in our back pocket will give leverage in acquiring the rare earth minerals needed for batteries & solar cells. I assume you mean getting rare earth minerals from China, but that wouldn't work because China already has all the coal it needs, and besides is moving fast to get off of coal and onto renewables. |