Its an open question if Trump can restore coal-country jobs but hes brought hope [View all]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

It’s an open question if Trump can restore coal-country jobs — but he’s brought hope

By MIKE GORRELL | The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Dec 26 2016 01:00PM • Last Updated Dec 27 2016 03:01 pm

East-central Utah residents have weathered tough times and are hungry for some good news.

Price • The day after Donald Trump was elected president, Andy Urbanik was visiting businesses around Carbon and Emery counties, selling ads for KOAL and two other Castle Valley Radio stations. ... Everywhere he went, the fervent Trump supporter said, "It was like a weight was lifted off everybody's shoulders. People had hope." ... Hope is a word used frequently these days in Utah's coal country.

There's no solid evidence Trump can revive the struggling coal industry after he takes office in January. But at least there's hope he will follow through with campaign promises to bring back coal — and, in doing so, restore lost jobs in natural-resource-rich east-central Utah.

With Hillary Clinton, there was no hope for the mining community. ... "None whatsoever," said Jeremy Schritter, 29, of Helper, who has been unemployed as a coal-truck driver since April. "Trump gets the idea we should focus on our local residents. With him doing that, it will bring jobs back to working folks like me. He has a lot more ambition to bring the regular working force back."

Not everyone agrees. Deon Kone, a retired union construction worker in Price, said, "As a working man, I don't know how a working man could vote for Trump. He's all smoke in the sky as far as I'm concerned … like the wizard of Oz."