Blackjewel is part of the latest spate of coal producers to file for bankruptcy, a trend that has lingered under President Trump as the nation’s appetite for coal has continued to shrink. The Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations implemented under Obama have failed to spark a revival in communities like Cumberland that formed his political base during the 2016 election.
Cumberland is located in Harlan County, where Trump won 85 percent of the vote. But these miners say their fight isn’t a political one. At the camp, there is an informal policy against speaking about Trump or partisan issues, underscoring the president’s continued popularity in areas where the local economy has continued to suffer.
“That is the main reason we have gotten as far as we’ve got now; it’s because we have kept the nonsense down,” Rowe said, referring to the nation’s divisive political debate.
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“The administration has definitely pulled back regulations, and that has stopped some of the bleeding, but renewable energy is so cost-effective, and natural gas prices are so low, the pulling back of some regulations has not been able to stop the decline of coal,” Marmon said.
