A long-time Democratic stronghold in the heart of Ohio鈥檚 coal country is warming up to GOP nominee Donald Trump. It鈥檚 a shift fuelled by the notion that world leaders are putting the mainstay of the region鈥檚 economy in their crosshairs with green-energy policy, at a time when the coal industry is grappling with its worst downturn in decades.
Many voters in Belmont County have come to see the bombastic New York billionaire鈥檚 fiery attacks on environmental policy and international carbon reduction agreements as a way to stave off the long, slow decline of the region鈥檚 industrial backbone.
鈥淚f Hillary gets in, it鈥檚 pretty much done for this area,鈥� long-time Democrat voter J.D. Hess told CTV News.
Slowing global demand and a swelling stockpile of cheap natural gas from increased fracking has squeezed U.S. coal prices. Coal has lost considerable ground as a source of U.S. electricity, and July exports fell to the lowest level since February 2007, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Nobody has watched the decline of the state鈥檚 coal industry as closely as Robert Murray. The president and chief executive officer of Ohio-based coal giant Murray Energy Corp. says families are suffering as tens of thousands of coal miners lose their jobs.
Like many in the region who have grown frustrated the prolonged downturn, Murray places the blame squarely on the White House, and tougher environmental rules introduced in 2012 that are widely blamed for hurting local coal-burning electric plants.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been a regulatory rampage from the Obama administration,鈥� said the notoriously outspoken defender of U.S. coal.
Murray Energy recently announced a courtroom victory that will require the Energy Protection Agency to consider job losses and displacements caused by regulation, as outlined by the Clean Air Act. For Murray, it鈥檚 an important step in fending off what he sees as a siege by regulators.
In a statement released earlier this month, he said the Obama administration is 鈥渟eeking to eliminate the United States coal industry, and the very good jobs and low cost electricity that it provides.鈥�
Whether depressed commodity markets or a so-called war on coal is to blame for Belmont County鈥檚 economic woes, the willingness among voters to turn their backs on the Democratic Party should not be underestimated.
Four years ago, Vice President Joe Biden stopped at a local car dealership to drum up support for the Democrats. He was jeered by angry coal miners when he brought up how much the Obama administration has done to revive the faltering auto industry. Belmont County voted Republican in that election.
With Clinton having promised to 鈥減ut a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business,鈥� and Trump vowing to 鈥渆liminate job killing regulations,鈥� the decision may seem obvious.
Still, even Ohio鈥檚 biggest coal booster doubts a full recovery is possible, regardless of who wins the White House.
鈥淚t will never be the industry that it was,鈥� said Murray.
With a report from CTV鈥檚 Tom Walters
