There’s actually a new epidemic of a very serious black lung variant appearing out there, even as the Trump administration is pushing hard for coal consumption to go up again.
But this is the year when a special tax on coal which helps pay for a black lung medical fund dramatically drops. The GAO has estimated that, in fact, to keep the fund solvent, the tax needs to be increased beyond current levels.
The coal industry is outraged … that they might be asked to pay more.
Increasing the tax or even leaving the current rate in place would burden the coal industry, says Bruce Watzman, an executive at the National Mining Association. “The competition among fuels for electric generation is intense and a couple cents a kilowatt hour makes a difference in the fuel source that’s generating the electricity,” Watzman adds.
Mr Watzman, if you can’t actually make money to cover all the costs on your product … maybe your product needs to go out of business.
Or, alternately, don’t worry — Trump is considering plans to force utilities to buy coal power regardless of the price differential. Your Association should be just fine. Unlike your workers.
Coal Miners’ Fund Set For Deep Cuts As Black Lung Epidemic Grows : NPR
