With primaries looming in Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton strayed a bit from the campaign trail Tuesday, heading to Ohio, where she already notched a primary victory, to revisit controversial comments she made in March regarding coal jobs.
During a campaign event at a brewery in the city of Athens, Clinton said the nation owes the Appalachian region “a debt” for providing the nation’s energy for so many decades. She went on to commit to fighting for Appalachians whether they vote for her or not.
“Some of you may be wondering, how can I say all this? You know, because here in Ohio a few weeks ago during the Ohio primary, it sounded like I said something differently about coal miner jobs. To put it plainly, I misspoke,” said the former senator and secretary of state. “That’s one reason why I took this trip to say that directly to the people who are affected to make sure you know where I stand because I would never disrespect the people here.”
In the run-up to the Ohio primary during a televised town hall in March, Clinton said her proposed energy plan would “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”
The rest of her message – “We’re going to make it clear that we don’t want to forget those people. Those people labored in those mines for generations, losing their health, often losing their lives to turn on our lights and power our factories.” – was lost in much of the backlash.
Clinton reiterated the second part of her message to the crowd Tuesday. “At a time when our energy sector is changing rapidly, we need to invest in coal communities. We need to figure out how to bring new jobs and industries to them, and we need to stand up the coal company executives trying to shirk their responsibilities to their workers and retirees,” she said.
Things are going to continue to be hard for the coal industry, Clinton said, emphasizing the effect of the market on this trend. “The facts are clear: The energy market is changing here in America and around the world, but coal is still part of our energy supply although it produces far less of our electricity than it once did. Even China is starting to burn less coal. That’s good for the planet, but it has hurt American coal exports from this region,” she said.
The U.S. electric power industry’s use of steam coal for electricity production dropped 29 percent from a high of 1,045 million short tons (MMst) in 2007 to about 739 MMst in 2015, according to recent findings by the Energy Information Administration.
Taking the middle road, Clinton said anybody who promises a 20th-century energy mix going forward is being misleading, as is anybody who promises an immediate switch to a 100 percent renewable energy mix. “No matter what some politicians tell you, these trends [away from coal] are here to stay. … Anyone who pretends we can flip a switch and be in the clean energy future tomorrow isn’t being honest with you either,” she said.
The U.S. needs to transition to clean energy, but that shift will take time and needs to be handled delicately, with the interests of coal communities kept in mind, she added. “We need to try everything we can to cut carbon pollution, that includes supporting cutting-edge work being done right here in Appalachia in institutions working on carbon capture and sequestration technology,” she said. “I believe if we’re going to go around the country talking about the benefits of a clean energy economy … then we have a responsibility to come to this region of our country and look people in the eye and talk about what that really means.”
Clinton was not the only candidate to comment on the coal industry this week. Republican front-runner Donald Trump during a Monday campaign stop in Carmel, Ind., said miners will not be laid off during his presidency. “We have this president that flies to Hawaii in a 747 with a big old engine, spewing stuff in the air, and he plays golf for two and a half or three weeks. Then he gets on the 747 when he comes back, and he has a speech on the carbon footprint. … And in the meantime, our miners and our steelworkers are being laid off all over the place. OK, not going to happen anymore, folks. OK, it’s not going to happen anymore.”
The billionaire owns five of his own aircraft: a 757, a smaller jet, and three helicopters, The New York Times has reported.
Trump also said “China is taking our coal. … I’m going to open up clean coal. OK, we’re going to open up our coal industry,” though he offered no further details as to how he would do this.
Trump on Tuesday decisively won the Indiana GOP primary, driving top challenger Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) out of the race. That leaves just Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who vowed to stay in the campaign until someone hits the 1,237 delegates needed to lock down the nomination. The New York Times projected Trump would have more than 1,000 delegates after Tuesday’s primary.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) collected another victory in Indiana, but Clinton remains the front-runner.