At a Grand Junction rally in October, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump made a promise to Colorado coal miners: "You want to go back to work? You're going to go back to work. Your jobs will come back under a Trump administration. Your incomes will go up under a Trump administration. Your taxes will go way, way down under a Trump administration. Your companies won't be leaving Colorado under a Trump administration."
Roughly 1,000 miners have lost their jobs in Colorado in the last few years, and coal production has fallen dramatically. The question is, will now President-elect Trump's promise to lift regulations on the coal industry be enough to restore it to growth? Or, as many environmentalists argue, are market forces such as increased natural gas and renewable energy supplies continue to suppress growth or lead to the industry's further decline.
Colorado Matters host Nathan Heffel speaks with Keith Stockton, an instructor at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder who teaches courses in energy science and technology.
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