Donald Trump reportedly considering Democrat for energy post – AOL News

Donald Trump is reportedly considering a Democrat for his latest cabinet pick, energy secretary, but he’s about as far from a tree hugger as you can find. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the rumored choice, is from the heart of coal country. He’s “being considered to show the coal people how serious Trump is about coal,” according to a source who spoke to Politico.

The pick is far from finalized, but the conservative Democrat said that he would happily consider manning the Department of Energy for Trump’s administration. “If I can do anything that would help my state of West Virginia, and my country, I would be happy to talk to anybody,” he told Politico. “Other than that, I haven’t heard anything … I have nothing scheduled.”

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In Manchin, Trump would find a kindred spirit in enthusiasm for the U.S.’s coal industry. Even though the two differ on some issues — Manchin has “said repeatedly that I believe climate change is real,” while Trump at one point tweeted that global warming was a hoax created by the Chinese — both share a desire to ensure coal miners have a future in their occupation.

Learn more about Trump’s Cabinet:

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Trump’s official picks for cabinet and administration positions

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Chief of staff: Reince Priebus

(Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Chief strategist: Steve Bannon

(AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)

Transportation secretary: Elaine Chao

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Attorney General: Senator Jeff Sessions

(AP Photo/Molly Riley)

Director of the CIA: Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

White House national security adviser: Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn

(AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File)

Deputy national security adviser: K.T. McFarland

(Photo by Michael Schwartz/Getty Images)

White House counsel: Donald McGahn

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Ambassador to the United Nations: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley

(AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Education secretary: Betsy DeVos

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Health and Human Services secretary: Georgia Rep. Tom Price

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Secretary of Defense: Retired Marine General James Mattis (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Trump, who at one point called himself the “last shot for the miners,” has repeatedly pledged to save the country’s coal sector from ruin and curtail President Barack Obama’s environmental regulations. At a July rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Trump promised to “bring back coal and get clean coal” and to “put [coal miners] back to work.” Such pledges helped win him Pennsylvania as well as Ohio during the general election.

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Manchin, meanwhile, has lambasted the Obama administration over its “war on coal” and has passionately lobbied to make sure coal is part of America’s energy future. He has argued that eliminating coal would put America at a competitive disadvantage, and have “disastrous consequences” for the country’s economic recovery and its coal workers. “It is only common sense to use all our domestic resources, and that includes our coal,” Manchin said in a 2013 statement.

However, there is no denying that coal is riding a downward spiral in the U.S. According to a 2015 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 33 percent of the country’s power is still generated by coal, but a decade ago that was 50 percent. Both market forces and regulations have led to coal’s decline in America: natural gas is now a much cheaper energy option, and any plan to keep the coal industry afloat would likely require major subsidies (which already cost U.S. taxpayers billions).

In addition to natural gas, coal, which contributes harmful greenhouse gases to the earth’s atmosphere while polluting air and drinking water, is being phased out increasingly by renewable energy options. Since 2014, wind and solar have been the biggest electricity sources added to U.S. grids, while a record number of coal-fired power plants were shuttered.

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As such, energy analysts doubt Trump will be able to revive the coal economy during his term in office. “I don’t think the Trump presidency will have a material impact on bringing coal miners back to work,” Ted O’Brien, a coal analyst at the energy industry research firm Doyle Trading Consultants, told the New York Times. “He may eliminate the regulatory overhang… but I have a hard time seeing a surge in coal demand.”

This is especially true given coal’s dirty reputation. Travis Nichols, a spokesperson for Greenpeace, noted that the process to “clean coal” led to a disastrous chemical spill in West Virginia just two years ago. “Manchin’s biggest funders have been mining and utility companies who tout ‘clean coal,’ the process which poisoned the drinking water of 300,000 people in Manchin’s state,” he told Vocativ in an email Thursday. “If [Trump] picks Manchin to be his energy secretary, Trump would only be making America great for himself and people like him, while risking the health and safety of the middle and working class.”

Related: Also see more photos of Trump through the years:

37 PHOTOS

Donald Trump through the years

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Real estate developer Donald Trump annouces intentions to build a $ 100 million dollar Regency Hotel. (Photo by John Pedin/NY Daily News via Getty Images)

UNITED STATES – MARCH 02: Donald Trump with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York City Economic Development Administrator. Sketch of new 1,400 room Renovation project of Commodore Hotel. (Photo by NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY – 1980: Donald Trump and Ivana Trump attend Roy Cohn’s birthday party in February 1980 in New York City. (Photo by Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images)

UNITED STATES – MAY 26: Donald Trump stands behind architect’s model of City Hall Plaza. (Photo by Frank Russo/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

Donna Mills and Donald Trump during 1983 Annual American Image Awards at Sheraton Center in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

Portrait of real estate mogul Donald John Trump (b.1946), smiling slightly and facing to his right, 1983. New York. (Photo by Bachrach/Getty Images)

New York real estate magnates Steve Ross, right, and Donald Trump, left, announce agreement, Thursday, August 1, 1985 in New York, to merge the Houston Gamblers and the New Jersey Generals United States Football League teams. Ross heads a group of investors that last week agreed to buy the troubled Houston franchise. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)

Real estate magnate Donald Trump poses in front of one of three Sikorsky helicopters at New York Port Authority’s West 30 Street Heliport on March 22, 1988. (AP Photo/Wilbur Funches)

Ivana Trump and Donald Trump during Mike Tyson vs Michael Spinks Fight at Trump Plaza – June 27, 1988 at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)

Donald Trump and his wife, Ivana, pose outside the Federal Courthouse after she was sworn in as a United States citizen, May 1988. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 4: Billionaire Donald Trump and his wife Ivana arrive 04 December 1989 at a social engagement in New York. (Photo credit should read SWERZEY/AFP/Getty Images)

Shown in photo is Donald Trump, Nov. 20, 1990. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Billionaire developer Donald Trump, right, waits with his brother Robert for the start of a Casino Control Commission meeting in Atlantic City, N.J., March 29, 1990. Trump was seeking final approval for the Taj Mahal Casino Resort, one of the world’s largest casino complexes. (AP Photo)

Developer Donald Trump, center, is flanked by super middleweight champion Thomas Hearns, left, of Detroit, and Michael Olajide of Canada at a news conference in New York Thursday, Feb. 15, 1990. The three announced the super middleweight title bout at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort at Atlantic city, N. J on April 28.(AP Photo/Timothy Clary)

Real estate magnate Donald Trump and his girlfriend Marla Maples are seen at the Holyfield-Foreman fight at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, N.J., April 19, 1991. (AP Photo)

Donald Trump and Daughter Ivanka Trump during Maybelline Presents 1991 Look of the Year at Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 7: Donald Trump touches 07 April 1993 Marla Maples stomach to confirm published reports that the actress is pregnant with his child. The two arrived for Maples appearance in the Broadway musical ‘The Will Rogers Follies’. (Photo credit should read HAI DO/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 21: US business tycoon Donald Trump(C) enters the PLaza Hotel in New York past supporters 21 December 1994. Hundreds of supporters showed up at a news conference where Trump denied a New York newspaper report that the Sultan of Brunei had bid 300 million USD to buy the Manhattan hotel. (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

FILE–This is a 1994 file photo of Donald Trump. Trump said Wednesday, Oct. 23, 1996 he has bought the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen beauty pageants from ITT. “It’s a done deal,” Trump said in a telephone interview. “It’s a very, very great entertainment format. It gets very high ratings, it’s doing very well and we’ll make it even better.” Trump declined to say how much he paid. Asked if a New York Post source was correct in saying the deal was worth tens of millions of dollars, Trump replied, “Why not? (AP Photo/Jim Cooper)

FLUSHING MEADOWS, UNITED STATES: Donald Trump and his girlfriend Celina Midelfar watch Conchita Martinez and Amanda Coetzer 07 September at US Open in Flushing Meadows, NY. AFP PHOTO Timothy CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

Donald Trump and Christine Whitman during Opening of New Warner Bros. Store in Trump Plaza Casino at Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)

In this June 7, 1995 file photograph, Donald Trump is seen above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after taking his flagship Trump Plaza Casino public in New York City. Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., based in Atlantic City, New Jersey, filed for Chapter 11 protection on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey. Trump and his daughter Ivanka resigned from the company’s board Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, after growing frustrated with bondholders. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens,File)

Celine Dion, husband Rene, Donald Trump & Ivanka Trump (Photo by KMazur/WireImage)

Entrepreneur Donald Trump watches an undercard fight as an unidentified companion whispers into his ear before the start of the Mike Tyson versus Francois Botha bout at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Saturday, Jan. 16, 1999. (AP Photo/Eric Draper)

Developer Donald Trump holds an umbrella as he walks Saturday, Nov. 9, 2002, to the 11th green of the Ocean Trail Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Trump plans to turn the beleagured golf club into a world class course. Trump intends to close on the golf club by December and hopes to begin improvements by January. He could reopen the course, 20 miles south of Los Angeles, as early as June. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Entrepreneur Donald Trump (L) and Rev. Al Sharpton speak at a ribbon cutting ceremony for Sharpton’s National Action Network Convention April 5, 2002 in New York City. The group aims to further the development of civil rights. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Donald Trump and his girlfriend Melania Knauss attend the Marc Bouwer/Peta Fall/Winter 2002 Collection show February 14, 2002 during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City. (Photo by George De Sota/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 06: WBC Kampf im Schwergewicht 2003, New York/Madison Square Garden; Vitali KLITSCHKO/UKR – Kirk JOHNSON/CAN; Donald TRUMP als Zuschauer (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

FOXBORO, MA – JANUARY 10: Donald Trump stands on the sidelines before the start of the AFC divisional playoffs between the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans on January 10, 2004 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Temperatures have reached as low as 7 degrees in the Foxboro area. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

US tycoon Donald Trump arrives to speak at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington, on February 27, 2015. AFP PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

NASHVILLE, TN – APRIL 10: Donald Trump speaks during the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum at the 2015 NRA Annual Meeting & Exhibits on April 10, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. The annual NRA meeting and exhibit runs through Sunday. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 24: Real estate mogul and billionaire Donald Trump attends Golf legend Jack Nicklaus’ Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda March 24, 2015 in Washington, DC. Trump announed on March 18 that he has launched a presidential exploratory committee. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

DES MOINES, IA – MAY 16: Businessman Donald Trump speaks to guests gathered for the Republican Party of Iowa’s Lincoln Dinner at the Iowa Events Center on May 16, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. The event sponsored by the Republican Party of Iowa gave several Republican presidential hopefuls an opportunity to strengthen their support among Iowa Republicans ahead of the 2016 Iowa caucus. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Developer Donald Trump displays a copy of his net worth during his announcement that he will seek the Republican nomination for president, Tuesday, June 16, 2015, in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump gives a thumbs up before boarding his campaign plane to depart from Laredo, Texas, Thursday, July 23, 2015. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

AYR, SCOTLAND – JULY 30: Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump visits his Scottish golf course Turnberry with his children Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump on July 30, 2015 in Ayr, Scotland. Donald Trump answered questions from the media at a press conference. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

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