This Week In Mining: Political Blunders Stir Up Controversy

Trump and Morrison claim fossil fuels are the way of the future: the internet reacts

Politicians. If there’s one thing you can rely on them for, it’s controversy. The latest field of contention, in Australia and the US, is mining.

February 23, 2017: On this day in 2014, the Hazelwood Coal Mine fire was still burning out of control. It surged on for 45 days in total, blanketing nearby communities in toxic smoke. A government inquiry confirmed there was an increase in deaths in the Latrobe Valley since 2014, likely caused by the aftereffects of the fire. February 9th 2017 marked the three year anniversary of the commencement of the fire. This is what politicians were doing in parliament on the day:

That’s Liberal Party Treasurer, Scott Morrison with a big lump of coal in his hand at question time. The prop was part of his pitch to stop people “demonising” coal mining. The stunt certainly impressed 2GB shock jock, Ray Hadley.

But it has not been going down well with the rest of Australia.

Morrison’s stance on coal mining perfectly mirror’s that of newly inaugurated US president, Donald Trump. Coal was an important facet of his campaign and his pro-coal stance is likely what helped him score wins in the mining-dominant states of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The Trumpster’s latest claim is that he will bring coal mining back to its “glory days” with thousands of jobs saved and created. His method for creating these jobs was to repeal former president Obama’s “stream protection rule” which placed restrictions on coal companies with the goal of preserving the environment.

The legacy of wild promises and unsupported “facts” Trump has already accrued in his short career as president is impressive. But people are less than impressed with his coal mining push.