Obama's war on coal: An attack on retired miners

Coal barge, Guttenberg, Iowa

For decades ultra-liberals such as Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett played parlor games imagining what it would be like to run America. But every action--and this they could never foresee because they know everything--can have adverse results.

Let's take a look at Obama's War on Coal.

From Bloomberg:

After mining coal for almost 40 years, Robert Schultz hoped his pension would let him and his wife spend more time at the beach in retirement.

Then Schultz, a fifth-generation coal miner who retired about six years ago, got a letter from the U.S. Labor Department telling him that his pension was in financial trouble and benefits may need to be cut.

"We're talking about people not getting what they need,” said Schultz, 61, of Boone County, West Virginia.

A surge in overseas demand that has raised coal's outlook in the short run hasn’t stemmed long-run job losses, which could worsen with proposed U.S. limits on power-plant emissions. Competition from non-union operators has made matters worse, cutting employer contributions to the main pension plan for union miners and drawing a "seriously endangered" rating from pension regulators, raising the prospect of a government rescue.

Technorati tags: Democrats politics Obama Barack Obama coal environment energy fossil fuels