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Just how bad is it for coal miners?

America’s second-largest coal mining company, Arch Coal, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year, and they weren’t alone. Walter Energy, Alpha Natural Resources, and Patriot Coal, among others, have all followed suit.
President Barack Obama proposed the POWER Initiative in 2015. The initiative would set aside grant funding for economic development in communities that have been impacted by the coal industry’s decline. According to the White House, this program would “diversify economies, create jobs in new or existing industries, attract new sources of job-creating investment, and provide a range of workforce services and skills training including work-based learning opportunities.”With a proposed budget in 2016 of $55 million, Republicans have remained skeptical of the merits of the program.

Trump has frequently spoken about reducing regulations on the shale gas industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , “the most interesting shale development is in the Marcellus Shale. Much of the recent drilling in that shale has occurred in Pennsylvania, a traditionally coal-producing state that has seen a surge in natural gas production and employment over the past few years.” Reduced regulation on natural gas, while lowering the cost of the product and allowing it to further surpass coal, would also create more jobs in an industry that would translate well for unemployed coal workers.
Despite the current state of the coal industry, a sliver of hope is being felt by miners in states like Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania that has been absent for years.

Gary Chapman, 25, is a long-time coal miner in Montana. Having worked in the industry for over eight years, Chapman has survived more than seven layoffs. Several months ago, his shifts were reduced to only four per week. However, just days before the election they returned to five or six shifts a week with several opportunities for overtime.

“I believe they will bring a lot of it back,” Chapman said, “But do I believe that it will be what it used to be? No, it will never be that again.”