Yesterday, the U.S. Justice Department moved for dismissal of the Murray Energy lawsuit that’s held up President Obama’s Clean Air Act.  The company says the EPA has not fulfilled its duty to perform the necessary employment evaluations.  If the case is not dismissed, it goes to court in July; however, many will say employment evaluations have already been done- and in a word: devastating.

The Obama administration hit energy with a slew of new regulations aimed at the following:

• Mercury
• Air Toxics
• Ozone
• Fuel Standards
• Particulate Matter

Candidate Obama promised that electricity prices must “necessarily” go higher, and he kept that promise.  I don’t need to tell you how much your electric bill has zoomed, but here’s a visual reference.

The Carnage

Source Electric	2009	2015
Coal	48	33
Natural Gas	21	33
Nuclear	20	20
Hydro	6	6
Other (Solar)	5	7

President Obama came in with an agenda to crush coal, and he succeeded mightily. In 2008, coal was responsible for 48.2% of electricity; last year, it was down to 33%.

His regulations to force power plants to adjust to measures for "clean coal" have been draconian and unfair as the industry was moving toward cleaner coal without the coercion.

Bankruptcies include Arch Coal, Patriot Coal, James River Coal, Walter Energy, and Alpha Natural Resources.

The jobs losses are in the tens of thousands.

Stock market values have been wiped out as Bill Maher even gloated on his show that the industry once valued at $65 billion in market capitalization (market-cap) is down to $4.8 billion.

The hype that coal has been replaced by solar is a farce. Hydro was 6% and remains 6%, and "other renewable" are now less than 7% from 4.8%.

The standout comes from the fracking miracle which made natural gas cheap and it’s grown to 33% of electricity from 21.4%.

Where Do We Go From Here?

We will not get back to the golden era for coal, in part because of cheaper natural gas, but a booming economy means increases in price, and the need for metallurgical steel and power to run the economy helps coal demand, too.

Meanwhile, China is firing 1.3 million coal workers and spending $15 billion to re-train them and place them in new jobs.  Thus far, the administration hasn’t mentioned anything like that, but has poured billions in loan guarantees and direct investments into solar.

Four of the biggest solar power plants are generating a handful of permanent jobs:

• Ivanpah: 86
• Topaz: 12
• Desert Sunlight: 26
• Solar Star: 50

Hillary Clinton got into trouble as she talked about more layoffs with a certain amount of glee, and she’s working hard to walk back those comments.  Sadly, it’s too late to walk back all the damage the Obama administration has had on the coal industry.

Coal country is representative of hard working people, and that has actually sparked a revolution in the past.  In the Anyuan region of China, a massive coal strike in 1922 eventually propelled a guy named Mao and his communist ideas into a full-fledged revolution.

We may be on the cusp of a similar revolution in America.

Today’s Session

Trade War…Too Late

Equity futures were under pressure all morning long on growing worries about global economic growth.   Considering this election season, some might cheer our trade deficit slumped in March to $40.4 billion from $46.9 billion in February.

• Exports $176.6 billion -$1.8 billion
• Imports $217.1 Billion -$7.9 billion

Trade with China Swooned

• Exports $8.4 billion unchanged
• Imports $34.4 billion -$6.2 billion

Jobs Report

This is a shocker.  The ADP jobs report crashes to only 156,000 far less than the 196,000 anticipated.  I’ll have greater details on afternoon note.

No, we are not forcing the issue this morning.

Yes, I’m happy we closed some positions and raised cash.

Comments

Obama bragged he would re-make America. This was his promise before getting elected. So it is no wonder that many parts of our economy are on the downward slope and hundreds of thousands of hard working Americans are wondering what happened. People need to pay attention to what is happening and who is really looking after the best interests of this country. Obama and Clinton don't really care about the common folk. Their main goal is to attain more power and money for their crew. These actions by Obama and Clinton has paved the way for Mr. Trump. Common American citizens are speaking in a very loud and forceful voice, "Enough is Enough, Already". Greg on 5/4/2016 10:51:22 AM

Two people are MOST responsible for most of our economic and freedom related woes... Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. They let us and the country down. They did NOTHING to protect our Constitution. I get their email garbage that crows about all they do and what they stand for... and they make me ill. NOW, we have to go outside the "system" to Donald Trump for ANY hope... to Make America Great Again. Sad, but true. Barry Gold on 5/4/2016 11:25:26 AM

After more than 30 years as an award-winning radio/broadcast journalist & interviewer, I get DISGUSTED at the Far Left-leaning TV journalists we have hosting morning "News" programs. Just this morning I witnessed Gail King exhibit EXTREME NASTINESS toward the Chairman of the Republican Party, Reince Priebus, demanding a "Yes or NO" response from him regarding whether GOP Presidential Candidate, John Kasich, should drop out of the race. When Mr. Priebus said it was not his decision to MAKE, Ms. King ABRUPTLY cut him off and failed to even thank him for his time. Question? Who in the hell annointed these TV "hosts?" to be Kings and Queens and to ACT in such a manner? What ever happened to honest to goodness, non-partisan, impartial, UNbiased reporting? What, for God's sake, has happened to the industry I once LOVED and spent so may years supporting with MY humble capabilities? Isn't this MORE of the reason why Donald Trump has gained such support from the Nixon-era "Silent Majority?" And, WHEN will the top execxutives at CBS, NBC, ABC and the like take action (such as they did with Brian Williams) and clip the haughty wings of such sarcastic "reporters" such as Gail King and Andrea Mitchell? WHAT, I ask, has happened to real true American journalism? I guess it has DIED a painful death with the institution of such disrespectful TV network employees that we view daily presenting what THEY profess to be "The News." James Allan on 5/4/2016 3:05:47 PM

To generate (no pun intended) a vibrant, growing economy we must do it on affordable energy. Nuclear seems to fit the bill of providing clean energy in an efficient way. david on 5/4/2016 4:24:53 PM

Barry Gold is indicative of the type person that creates a distorted view of the world in order to match their own prejudices. The real culprits of the last decade are found in the Democratic Party with collusion by many Republicans. I won't bore folks with the litany of events that led up to the financial meltdown, nor the woeful and misguided attempts to recover that this admin has put forth. I don't like Trump, but to have Pelosi, Reid and an Obama surrogate like HRC in charge is cutting off your nose to spite your face! Gary L. Reynolds on 5/4/2016 4:30:38 PM

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