Coal mining isn’t coming back, and it’s time to get real about it. I’m a fifth-generation coal miner and a ninth-generation Appalachian from Virginia. I spent four years in the coal industry. The work was dangerous and came with a lot of long-term health impacts. We love our coal miners. And they’re not being mistreated anymore. Miners are going back to work, folks. Those are false promises that are only going to line the pockets of coal executives while delaying the inevitable. If Trump really wants to help Appalachian mining communities that support him, lowering emissions standards is not the way to do it. The industry has never been on the side of the coal miner. The coal companies were quick to create a culture around coal mining, around the hard work and patriotic duty and sacrifice for families. But they did it with a total disregard for our safety. We’re still having to fight for things like black lung benefits, workman’s compensation and disability from injuries in the mines. You might think of Appalachia as a very conservative place. But in 2000, the majority of Appalachia’s coal-producing counties voted for Al Gore. Our families used to vote Democrat for labor rights. But economic desperation has driven us to vote otherwise. We’re defending ourselves against liberal elite stereotypes that we’re unintelligent deplorables. And beautiful clean coal, clean coal, really clean coal. Coal cannot be clean. We know that firsthand. Acidic mine drainage is real. It’s coming out of our family spring. Coal slurry impoundments are real. They’re leaching into our creeks, our rivers and our lakes. Miners don’t want to be told about climate change. But at some point, we have to realize that the environmental impacts of the industry aren’t a partisan issue. They’re a matter of life and death. We don’t need short-term revivals of an industry that has always mistreated us. We need long-term investments into our communities. This is the only way to give justice to the communities who have sacrificed so much to provide the energy and steel that has made this nation so great.