this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023
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Dont worry im sure the govt will give them tons of subsidies to stay open/make sure thier profits dont go too far down
Trump tried and this did nothing. the US government's policy at this point also could not be more antithetical to the continuation of coal as a power source. the Biden administration is trying to propose a rule ("slash their greenhouse gas pollution 90 percent between 2035 and 2040 — or shut down") that would functionally kill coal and, as of now, probably the ability of even natural gas to operate. (i'm not aware of any technology which can get natural gas to such a non-polluting point, much less coal which produces nearly twice as many emissions.) coal is in extremely terminal decline in the US: the EIA says "nearly a quarter of the operating U.S. coal-fired fleet scheduled to retire by 2029" and that's probably an underestimate. half of existing coal capacity in 2011 is likely to be gone by 2026. i know we like to be cynical about these things collectively, but all available evidence clearly indicates this is not a correct perspective to hold.
I hate that you're probably right