Readers React: Hillary Clinton didn’t say she wanted to put coal miners out of work

To the editor: One reader wrote in a letter to the editor, “It was [Hillary Clinton] who stated that under her administration, coal miners would be put out of work.” That takes her statement grossly out of context.

Clinton recognized the fact that coal mining jobs were declining because of technological advancement, cheaper and cleaner natural gas and renewable energy, and reduced global demand. She said:

“And we’re going to make it clear that we don’t want to forget those people. Those people labored in those mines for generations, losing their health, often losing their lives to turn on our lights and power our factories. Now we’ve got to move away from coal and all the other fossil fuels, but I don’t want to move away from the people who did the best they could to produce energy that we relied on.”

Facts matter. Clinton wanted to help coal country adapt, not to tell miners, “You’re fired.”

Judy Pang, Palos Verdes Estates

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