The Atlantic

The White House Exaggerated the Growth of Coal Jobs by About 5,000 Percent

Donald Trump’s EPA head is touting bad statistics in defense of a foolish policy.
Source: Jim Urquhart / Reuters

On Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, that the U.S. has created 50,000 jobs in the coal sector since the fourth quarter of 2016. The statistic carries an important message for the White House. Trump has brought extraordinary attention to the decline of coal jobs, for which he’s blamed Obama-imposed regulations. Coal’s immediate bounce-back would represent a major early win for a president who has made promises to

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