On Last Week Tonight, the host discussed the coal mining industry’s loss of jobs and Donald Trump’s promises to revive it during his presidential campaign

John Oliver addressed the topic of coal mining on his show Sunday night, exploring the industry’s loss of jobs and the factors that have led to it.

“Coal,” he began, “basically cocaine for Thomas the Tank Engine. We’ve heard a lot about coal this past year, particularly from President Trump. In fact, arguably the key reason that we have this cautionary Bible story in the White House was his ability to connect with mining communities during the campaign.”

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Oliver showed clips of Trump galvanizing voters at campaign rallies by promising to bring back coal industry jobs, putting on a hard hat, and doing a mining gesture on stage.

“Let me stop you right there. It is not easy watching someone I doubt has done a day of hard labor in his life show how he thinks coal mining works,” Oliver said, before showing an interview with the EPA head, Scott Pruitt, in which he claimed 50,000 coal mining jobs had been created since Trump took office. “But Trump’s promising to bring back coal jobs is undeniably potent and, to listen to his EPA administrator, it’s a promise that he’s already keeping.

“So the only problem there is that those numbers are bullshit,” Oliver quipped. “The Bureau of Labor Statistics have the actual number of coal jobs created since last year at just 1,300, so that 50,000 new jobs claims was off by 48,700. Which, for this administration, is actually uncharacteristically accurate.”

Oliver went on to catalogue the administration’s efforts thus far to revive the coal industry: “There is no doubt Trump claims coal is a huge priority for his White House, and let’s set aside the fact that it is environmentally catastrophic. Which we shouldn’t, because it is, but this person clearly doesn’t care about that. We pulled out of the Paris agreement citing coal as one of the reasons. He’s lifted a freeze on new coal leases on public lands, and revoked a rule to limit coal mining companies from dumping debris into local streams. So, if coal jobs are so important to him, let’s talk about them.”

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Oliver explained how Bob Murray, the CEO of Murray Energy, has for years been peddling the idea that Obama-era regulations were a death knell for coal jobs.

“Coal mining jobs undoubtedly did decline under Obama, but it’s worth noting that coal mining jobs have also been declining for decades,” Oliver said, displaying a graph charting the rapid descent of coal industry jobs. “Just look at that trend line: coal industry jobs declined at roughly the same rate as a career in the zeppelin industry and babies named Adolf. Some still exist – there’s just not nearly as many of them anymore.”

He went on: “And I’m not saying Obama’s regulations had no effect, but researchers have found that they had very little impact relative to other factors. When they studied the decline in expected demand for coal from a decade ago, they found that nearly half of that drop was owing to the drop in natural gas prices, and another 18% was due to the growth in renewable energy, like wind and solar. And there is perhaps no more dramatic evidence of coal losing out to solar energy than this.”

Oliver then showed a news clip about the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum, which is estimated to have saved nearly $10,000 by using alternative energy sources: “It’s true,” he said. “The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum is now using solar energy. It’s like finding out the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was brought to you by Smash Mouth.”

Coal mining, like almost all industries, is facing increased automation,” Oliver said. “And I say that well aware that in five to 10 years, I’m probably going to be replaced by a robotic English tea kettle that screams depressing money stats at you.

“Trump needs to stop lying to coal miners. We all do,” he concluded.

