Well, last week, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders he says will help the coal industry, including orders to save coal plants on the verge of retirement.

Kentucky's Senate President, Robert Stivers, was there for the signing, and he talked about it during a roundtable discussion this morning.

One of the things President Trump said, at that executive order signing was they're going to try to figure out a way to extend this well beyond his administration.

So you don't get into this whipsaw type of back and forth, depending on who's there and who's not.

For the purpose of having continuity and knowing the landscape of the energy industry for ten and 12 and 15 years.

You know, there's no doubt that we're going to have to change in this nation some of our thought process about energy production and dispatch ability and reliability.

But for now, this is the cheapest, most reliable, affordable, dispatchable energy source we have.

Along with developing more resources and assets in the nuclear realm, I think when you see the skills and the trades that they will obtain, and knowing that there is stability in the industry, hopefully for ten, 15 and 20 years.

And that was one of the things the president made very clear he wants to solve that problem.

I think when people see that as a career path, they'll take it.

I'll say that, from my perspective, I thought tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but he used the tariff as a tool to get more border control, on our two north and south borders, which shut down the pipeline of illegal immigrants and what I would call bootleg products.

Both of these, I think, are very good results for the United States.

So am I a little leery?

Without a doubt.

But, is he conventional?

No, but he has gotten some results that nobody thought about.

If you are not buying a foreign product, then you are not being impacted by the tariffs.

So if it's domestically done with domestically produced energy, then it could lead to a circumstance of the 2030s, 40s and the Industrial Revolution becoming a new industrial revolution.

According to the Energy Information Administration, coal burning power plants generate less than 20% of the electricity in the US.

Senator Stivers is also praising Kentucky and Republican leadership of the Kentucky General Assembly as the new rich state's poor states.

Report shows Kentucky ranked 27th in economic performance among the 50 states.

Kentucky was 44th in 2008.

In a statement, Senator Stivers said, quote, let's be clear, this is not the result of federal handouts or temporary trends.

This is a direct outcome of the policies we've championed and the priorities we've codified in law.

We've made Kentucky a place where businesses want to grow and families want to stay, unquote.