Coal country afraid Trump will repeal black lung benefits with Obamacare

SN Greg Wright - Yea, I sent you an off line tin foil hat conspiracy theory. Notice the two photos and the background. I think there is about a 1 in 5 chance I might be on to something.

Maj John Bell - Not only do I agree with you, I've had that thought myself. I'll respond there.

Maj John Bell I beg to differ. Three solar companies have come knocking on my door....I cannot afford to pay the prices they want to charge to put solar on the roof of my house....and at the interest rate they want to charge.

Sgt Kelli Mays - I'm not sure where you and I are differing. The boil down on my assertions here is that the Obama Administration is creating barriers to make coal fired power generation artificially expensive. People who only look at the current costs (without knowing why the coal costs are high) then think solar and wind Wholesale power generation is competitive. Solar and/or wind may be competitive for specific locations against coal that was allowed to float to natural prices, free from government artificial price inflators. But for the vast majority coal fired wholesale power priced by the FREE market is significantly less expensive and far more reliable.

I agree that the initial installation of solar and wind is nothing at which to sneeze. Once when I had money burning a whole in my pocket, I had a self generation power study done. The only thing that that was viable on my farm was the switch from a propane furnace to a wood stove. It was supposed to pay for itself in a little over two burning seasons. But I harvest deadfall from winter storms from neighbors each spring. I'm glad to have it, they're glad to have it gone. Some even pay me, even though I tell themup front it isn't necessary. I burn 12-14 face cord per season and air dry for two years after splitting and stacking before I burn a particular year's harvest. As soon as the snow is gone, I buck enough logs one week, cut to length the next week, split what I have to (not that much because I rarely harvest anything bigger than 10" in diameter) the final week. I actually paid for the woodstove and installation in a little over one season.

People who want to go off-grid, generating their own power, face there own set of challenges. It is best to have viability studies done specifically for your site, especially if your home was not specifically designed to be "off-grid". I have friends in Arizona that relied on the general study done for the county they live in. A little over 40% of their power consumed for the first five years came from their back up diesel generator. They were not saving much money and they were spending too much time servicing the homestead power generation system. The diesel system had none of the scales of economy that wholesale power generation offers. I also have friends in the same county, (about 20 miles from the first couple) who are net producers of power and rarely ever deplete their battery storage capacity, actively drawing from the grid less than 5% of the time.

PV2 Tong Li is misinformed and very biased, based on her postings. I just had to block her after reading obviously uninformed postings of hers. I respect anyone's opinion, but there has to be some sense of unbiased and balanced postings based, not editorials, but at least somewhat balanced journalism. I wished her luck. She does not understand the difference of bringing jobs back and curing black lung, or getting a pension from their employer or union. I don't recall Trump promising to keep pensions for those who suffer of black lung. He promised to help bring jobs back.

SGT,
I do not think this Tong Li is Tong Li, or a PVT. I looked at his background. There is hardly anything there except a woody from Chip. Shocker.
Over,
M. Morris RT

The promise was to get them jobs, not to prevent black lung disease. As far as the pension goes, that is between them and their employers or union. I am confident that he will try to help whomever he can, but we all know that not every single citizen will be happy with the final outcome. I do wish them well and hope for the best outcome. Either way, CNN will find the hand full of unsatisfied Trump voters and make them the poster child of a failed Trump promise.

SFC Dante Alanis - roger that, stand corrected, great catch. {Pardon me}

No need SFC Davis... as far as PV2 Tong Li... I just had to block her after reading obviously uninformed postings of hers. I respect anyone's opinion, but there has to be some sense of unbiased and balanced postings based, not editorials, but at least somewhat balanced journalism. I wished her luck.