Coal Mining Becomes an Issue in the 2016 Presidential Election

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Timothy Stanley: For many decades, the coal mining union and Democrats went hand in hand. He says that has changed because for the Democratic Party, a big issue is climate change. "I'm the only candidate which has a policy about how to bring economic opportunity using clean, renewable energy as the key into coal country"

For more than 500 days, coal miners in rural Alabama have been on strike. Around 900 workers walked off the job in April 2021, and they haven’t been back since.

As the strike drags on, the miners are discovering that neither political party is willing to fight for them.

For Braxton Wright, 39, a second-generation coal miner and, until recently, a Republican, the experience has altered his view of American politics.

Guest: Michael Corkery, a business reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading:

To make ends meet, some striking coal miners in Alabama have picked up work at an Amazon warehouse. It’s the same one where workers have tried to unionize.

For more information on today’s episode, visit

nytimes.com/thedaily

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