China’s imports of US coal, Canadian barley continue to climb amid ban on Australian exports
Worse yet, NY State sits on top of huge natural gas reserves. There are upwards of 150 Trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas in the Marcellus shale formation, of which upstate NY has a sizable portion. Below the Marcellus shale formation lies Utica shale, yet another even more expansive reserve of natural gas. Strange how Marcellus and Utica are both towns in NY State.
I'm not slighting coal as a fuel. I am all for domestic energy production consumption based on competition. Quite simply, the government (Albany and US Gov) stands in the way of that competition through regulation and outright bans. Meanwhile, government heavily subsidies more expensive and unreliable forms energy production, namely solar and wind. Unions have their part in this, since they have long supported leftist government. Quite honestly, unions are partly to blame for the decline of American manufacturing beginning more than a half century ago. It's a perfect convergence of unions, environmental over-regulation, and the scientism behind climate change that makes America less competitive in manufacturing and generally increases the cost of living for many Americans through higher energy prices.
I'm emphasizing manufacturing for specific two reasons. 1.) Large manufacturing has long been heavily unionized. 2.) Manufacturing requires significant energy resources. Labor and energy are two of the largest cost components of most manufacturing operations. Unions and government stand in the way competition that would keep those costs in check. Now it seems that energy sector unions are meeting manufacturing unions in the middle to erase American jobs. Not only do they price themselves out of jobs through non-competitive wages and benefit packages, they are also contributing increased energy costs. Quite simply, you can't run a steel mill on solar or a car plant on wind.