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One of President-Elect Donald Trump’s key campaign promises is to restore the floundering coal industry, but is the industry salvageable?

Since his election, Trump has been discussing the possibility of eliminating environmental regulations on the coal industry put in place by President Barack Obama. This proposal, however, has been met with resistance by proponents of environmental regulations. These supporters are concerned with the health of our environment and the long-term repercussions of continuing to pollute our air with coal emissions. Beyond the environmental concerns, many have questioned if the coal industry, an industry that has been in decline for almost a decade, has the ability to make a comeback.

The coal industry has been on a steady decline since the election of President Obama in 2008. President Obama sought to address growing concerns over climate change by implementing aggressive regulations (often called the Clean Power Plan, or CPP) that cut emissions from power plants. Coal plants produce power by burning coal, the emissions cause smog and soot to be released into the air, potentially leading to acid rain. Many environmentalists also believe that over time these emissions could contribute to global climate change. Beyond the emissions, additional waste is generated from burning coal, including ash, sludge and many other toxic chemicals that contribute to environmental pollution.

Coal has been the dominant power source for decades, but it is quickly being replaced with much cleaner burning sources of electricity. Natural gas, wind, and solar have steadily been on the rise over the last decade. These natural sources release fewer carbon emissions when burned and are a much healthier choice for the environment and atmosphere. Additionally, new technology and research are making it less expensive to use these natural resources for energy.

Researchers from the University of Texas released an interactive map that shows that, even if Obama’s Clean Power Plan is taken out of the equation, in most of the country it is still significantly cheaper to use other energy sources.

The shift to natural sources has been devastating for the already-struggling coal industry. Instead of attempting to bring back jobs in the coal industry, many experts have urged the federal government to focus spending on helping unemployed miners in coal-producing areas transition to jobs in the clean energy sector.

In addition to the declining use of coal, mechanization (controlling mining equipment with computer hardware) is also responsible for the loss of coal jobs. Simply put, machines are able to do a more efficient job than their human counterparts. Mechanization alone eliminated 50,000 coal-related jobs between 2008 and 2012. If coal production were to increase, it is still unlikely that the majority of those jobs would return.