U.S. Mining Industry Profitable for First Time in Two Years Under President Trump!

Back in 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama promised on numerous occasions that he’d bankrupt the coal industry. Speaking of his cap-and-trade plan (which, thank God, was never implemented), Obama stated “So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them, because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean the coal industry wasn’t destined to suffer under Obama in absence of cap-and-trade. Obama’s EPA issued a record 4,000 regulations, and in 2015, he ordered the government to halt all mining projects on federal land. It’s no surprise that the coal industry suffered greatly under Obama – which you can see visualized below in how publicly traded coal stocks fared under his Administration. I started the timeline after he was re-elected in 2013 (Feb 2013-Feb 2017), because that’s when most of the relevant damaging policies took effect. And the results aren’t pretty….

While coal stocks fell 40 percent during that time period, someone invested in an S&P 500 index fund would’ve seen over a 50 percent return on their money, so the sector clearly under-performed, and by an incredible margin.

The nation’s largest coal company (Peabody Energy) also went bankrupt under his Administration, but fortunately was able to restructure. Most smaller companies weren’t so lucky.

Candidate Hillary Clinton made it clear that she would be no friend of the coal industry, infamously telling a crowd in West Virginia that “we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” As you’re all aware, Trump took the opposite stance – and it’s already showing.

The U.S. mining industry had its first profitable quarter in two years in the first quarter of this year, according to data published last week by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the first three months of 2017, U.S. mining corporations with assets of $50 million or more had combined after-tax profits of $1.957 billion, according to the Census Bureau, which has posted quarterly U.S. mining industry after-tax profits and losses going back to the fourth quarter of 2000.

The after-tax profit that the U.S. mining industry earned in the first quarter of this year was a dramatic reversal from the first quarter of last year, when mining corporations with assets of $50 million or more posted losses of $27.075 billion.

Prior to the first quarter of this year, the last quarter in which the U.S. mining industry earned a profit was in the third quarter of 2014.

H/T CNS News

The main economic accomplishment of Trump thus far has been in the realm of regulation – and of course, that includes him nixing all of Obama’s regulations affecting the coal industry.

So far, so good. And ever better for coal! Now, it’s time to deregulate everything else.

What do you think of President Trump’s job performance so far? Comment below and let us know!

By Matt

Matt is the co-founder of Unbiased America and a freelance writer specializing in economics and politics. He’s been published... More about Matt

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