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McGurn reminds readers that LBJ's war on poverty started not from a inner city area but from a poor white home in Martin County, eastern Kentucky. This has fostered the same degree of dependency in Martin County, eastern Kentucky, as it has in inner cities in the U.S., says McGurn. He also compares South Korea in the sixties, emerging from years of neglect under Japanese occupation and following this with the devastation of the Korean War, and pulling itself up in the next three decades to the point where it is a modernized economy with high living standards. Strong families, education, a strong work ethic, are vitally needed ingredients for building strong communities. Economic opportunity is another ingredient. In Baltimore the loss of the steel industry, and in Martin County the loss of jobs in coal mining, have reduced economic opportunities. How to put all the ingredients together is the challenge for decisionmakers.

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Marcellus Shale natural gas prices are monthly average of $2.80 per million BTU compared to benchmark U.S. prices for natural gas of $3.61 in Nov. 2013. The low prices of natural gas are leading to closing of more coal powered plants in the Pennsylvania, and W. Virgina, where a glut of natural gas is developing with few pipelines in the region. For the U.S. coal lost market share down to 37% in 2012 from about 50% of the electricity generated in the U.S. Over 100 coal burning generators were closed in the U.S. since 2011 because of lower natural gas prices and the federal government's stricter pollution limits for power plants.

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As unemployment rises and industrial production drops Democrats in the states with dependence on heavy manufacturing and use of coal are going to have to make the difficult tradeoffs between their support for controlling emissions and favoring the environment versus their interest in keeping industry. According to the Department of Energy, in 2005 the state of Ohio derived 86% of its electricity from coal compared to California which derived 20.7% of its electricity from coal, 40% from hydroelectric power and renewable sources. Other Great Lakes and Plains states are similar to Ohio. Yet the key committees in Congress and the Senate are controlled by Ms. Boxer, Mr Waxman, and have the backing of Speaker Pelosi.

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Myanmar's economy shows slower growth in the early period of the Suu Kyi administration. Experts say part of the reason is that the administration has slowed investment in petroleum and mining and pushed it in favor of other areas to diversify the economy. The inexperience of the government is also an issue, as Myanmar needs workplace reforms. The IMF says growth should improve to 7.5% after 6.3% growth in 2016. The government is in office for only about 2 years, and this comes after decades of mismanagement and cronyism under military rule. Another problem is that Suu Kyi is considered a micromanager and is only now delegating matters to experts, some from Australia. In a sign of the sluggish foreign investment the two American companies investing in Burma are Coca Cola and a can making company. The initial enthusiasm for investment has waned. 

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Electric cars are seen as not affordable for ordinary Americans facing a cost of living crisis. Sales for electric cars lag behind milestones set by California. Only 7% of American cars are electric. GM is pushing for scuttling of the California ban on gas powered cars in 2035. The US Senate is set to vote next week to revoke California's emissions waiver. About 35 Democrat members of Congress support Republicans in this effort to scrap California's ban on gas powered cars in 2035. Zero emissions vehicles make up 20% of sales in California far behind the goal set of 35%. Enthusiasm for electric cars is waning after the lack of technological advances in cutting cost. The lack of rare earth minerals such as dyspromium for electric magnets that is 94% controlled by China means less of it can be imported into the US. China has invented refining technologies to convert the mining materials into the rare earth mineral giving it a monopoly as shown in the WSJ. ...

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This analysis of coal use using graphs shows a clear move away from coal in the world, except for two growth markets China and India which account for 60% of the increase in coal use since 2008. India has gone black in its shift to increasing use of coal. China has begun the shift away from coal to address the smog over large urban areas, poor air quality and health impact of coal use. Because China used five times the coal used by India in 2017, the overall impact in China and India is showing a shift away from coal to hydropower, other renewables including solar energy. It is likely that India will make the shift following China's example in the future. 

The trend is clear when one looks at the incremental terawatt hour and where it comes from. The shift is clear to renewables, hydropower, and non fossil uses in the rest of the World and China which account for most of the coal use in the world.