Coal’s Days Are Numbered, Says Head Of Major Hauling Company

NEW YORK, NY — CSX, one of the country’s largest haulers of coal, has previously drawn protests from New York City environmental activists who object to pollution from the company’s trains. But CSX’s CEO says the coal industry’s days are numbered.

"Fossil fuels are dead," Hunter Harrison said Wednesday, according to HuffPost. "It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s not going to be two or three years, but it’s going away in my view.

"Unless something changes drastically in the market, we’re not going to go out and put a double track in, or buy locomotives or anything for coal," he added.

The comments came amid President Donald Trump’s push to revive the U.S. coal industry. In March, Trump rolled back clean air regulations that he claimed were detrimental to coal mining jobs.

But the industry is going to plummet in the U.S. and Europe over the coming years, according to a major Bloomberg analysis, and many experts doubt Trump’s ability to bring coal jobs back.

Still, Harrison said he wants CSX to keep delivering coal as long as possible.

"The last carload of coal that’s shipped out of this country, I want to be the carrier that shipped it," he remarked.

New York City environmental activist Jennifer Scarlott, who previously fought CSX over trains idling in the Bronx, was skeptical of Harrison’s recent comments.

"He’s sort of having it both ways, saying coal is dying and it should die, but I’m also happy to move it in its death throes," Scarlott, a founding member of Bronx Climate Justice North, told Patch.

"When I hear somebody like the head of CSX saying, 'oh boy, coal’s a goner,' I’m just hearing them say what they’ve always known and acknowledging reality," she added.

Watch: Utilities Might've Known About Climate Change As Early As 1968

Lead image by Getty Images