A large swath of the population—mostly on the left—thinks the American coal industry is dead or dying. But another large portion of the population—mostly on the right—thinks the coal industry is primed for a comeback.

Neither group is correct. The coal industry isn’t going anywhere any time soon; but it will almost certainly continue to contract for the foreseeable future (regardless of President Trump’s rhetoric or policy shifts). The reason isn’t stringent environmental regulations—it’s low natural gas prices, which make that fuel a lot cheaper to burn than coal.