“Where Trump goes we all go,” says Kevin Backus, 32, of Mt. Lookout, W.Va., a coal miner at CONSOL Energy’s Harvey Mine in Sycamore, Pa. Backus has worked in coal mining for 10 years.
At the Harvey Mine, most of the miners are supporting President Trump, believing that his rollback of regulations has helped their industry survive.
In the early 1920s, coal miners accounted for 2% of the country’s workforce with over 800,000 miners. Today, there are about 45,000 coal miners left in the U.S. Pennsylvania is one of the nation’s largest coal producing states behind Wyoming and West Virginia, producing about 7% of the the coal.
Presidential
Trump Signs /
Leon Moyer, 60, owner of JL Signs stands in front of his business on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2017 in Ruffs Dale, Pa. Moyer has continued to make and sale pro-Trump signs and bumper stickers long after the election has passed. Read more about Moyer in the New York Post.
Donald Trump /
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump meets with the Atlantic prior to speaking at Shale Insight conference in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016.
I photographed Donald J. Trump on the campaign trail in Sept. 2016 for the Atlantic.
Sen. Bernie Sanders /
A portrait of Sen. Bernie Sanders during a recent campaign stop in Pittsburgh.
Sen. Bernie Sanders /
Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses supporters on the eve of Pennsylvania’s primary election during a campaign event at the University of Pittsburgh’s Fitzgerald Field House in Oakland on Monday, April 25, 2016.