DANVILLE, W.Va. (AP) – As a laid off coal mine electrician, Nolan Triplett doesn’t think his industry will ever return to the heady days when it powered America and offered generations of Appalachians a chance at a middle class life.
But he still backs the president who said he’d reopen the mines and put thousands back to work, even if such promises proved empty.
“Even if I don’t go back to this industry, I’m still with him,” said Triplett, 41, outside a mine worker certification office in Danville, a town of about 700 people along the Little Coal River in Boone County south of Charleston.
Four years after Donald Trump donned a miner’s helmet at a West Virginia campaign rally and vowed to save a dying industry, coal has not come roaring back. The fuel has been outmatched against cheaper, cleaner natural gas and renewable energy.
But many West Virginians applaud Trump’s efforts and remain loyal as he seeks a second term. Triplett and other voters say they are attracted to his “America First” slogan and anti-abortion stance, and figure he’s the only one standing in the way of the entire industry closing down.