POPPY HARLOW (CO-HOST): On this show and on this network, we value facts, and you have heard the president promise to bring back coal jobs, a lot of them, and to end the economic misery that far too many Americans are coping with. Well, President Trump signed an executive order in March to reverse limits on the use of coal. He told a group of miners at that ceremony, "You are going back to work.” In Kentucky, a woman named Donna Coomer, who manages a gas station, told us after the election the coal trucks are out. So, here are some facts.
JOHN BERMAN (CO-HOST): OK, coal jobs in Kentucky alone have fallen 64 percent since the end of 2011, U.S. coal jobs have fallen 50 percent since the end of 2011, and a driving reason for this is that electricity in the United States, more of it came from natural gas than coal. The amount of coal used to produce electricity in the U.S. has fallen about 35 percent since 2007. Why? Because natural gas prices have plunged. The cost to produce natural gas fell 71 percent from 2008 and 2016, while coal fell only 8 percent during that time. Last week the president's top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, said coal doesn't even make that much sense anymore as a feed stock.
HARLOW: Here's facts. 1,700 coal jobs have been added since the election. There are about 50,000 coal miners in America right now. Point of comparison for you -- JCPenney, the big retailer, they employ about 104,000 workers. A coal mine is set to open in Pennsylvania on June 8th. 70 to 100 people will be employed there full time.
