Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has some hurt feelings to smooth over in coal country after making a controversial remark over the weekend regarding the future of the coal industry under her presidency. The Democrat, during a televised town hall Sunday, said that her proposed energy plan would “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”
The rest of her message – “We’re going to make it clear that we don’t want to forget those people. Those people labored in those mines for generations, losing their health, often losing their lives to turn on our lights and power our factories.” – has been lost in much of the backlash.
While the majority of the criticism of the statement has come from the right, Clinton had some explaining to do with coal state Democrats. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who has endorsed Clinton, received a letter from the former secretary of state Tuesday offering such an explanation.
“Simply put, I was mistaken in my remarks,” Clinton wrote. “I wanted to make the point that, as you know too well, while coal will be part of the energy mix for years to come, both in the U.S. and around the world, we have already seen a long-term decline in American coal jobs and a recent wave of bankruptcies as a result of a changing energy market – and we need to do more to support the workers and families facing these challenges.”
The letter also offers additional detail regarding Clinton’s energy plan, which says she will “protect the health and retirement security of coalfield workers and their families and provide economic opportunities for those that kept the lights on and factories running for more than a century,” but does not specify how this will be achieved.
“I pledge to you that I will focus my team and Administration on bringing jobs to Appalachia, especially jobs producing the carbon capture technology we need for the future,” the letter says.
Manchin’s office did not comment on the letter.
