As say so long to the Trump era, let us devote a moment to an actual issue — his vow to save the coal industry. Recall in his successful 2016 campaign the "Trump Digs Coal" sign at a rally showcasing miners in hard hats, signaling to blue-collar voters that he was on their side.

Did he Make Anthracite Great Again? He did not. Trump left office with the coal industry in collapse. Over his four years, America saw a 24% drop in average quarterly coal mining jobs. In 2019 alone, more than eight coal companies filed for bankruptcy, including the industry giant Murray Energy.

Yet in 2018, Trump held an event in Charleston, West Virginia, where he declared: "We are back. The coal industry is back." And so was his chorus line of miners, this time holding signs that read, "Promises Made. Promises Kept."

Alvin Long, a worker at the now-closed Kayenta mine in northeast Arizona, offered a different take. "All of his promises went down the drain," he said. He voted for Trump in 2016.

There was no saving the coal industry. Cleaner and cheaper natural gas has replaced coal. And now, even-cleaner renewable energy is challenging natural gas. Last year, for the first time, wind, solar and other renewable energy started producing more electricity than coal.

It was not Trump's fault that coal was dying. It was his fault that he lied about being able to save it. Rather than helping transition coal workers into different lines of work, Trump fed them delusional promises.

Trump tried. A ban on dumping mining waste in streams went out the window. A rule that would have stopped coal-burning plants from pouring toxic metals into rivers was delayed. Trump discarded an Obama-era rule that required power plants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. He killed Congress' effort to extend clean energy tax credits and tossed tighter regulations on worker safety.

Coal executives did use a couple of fat years to enrich themselves rather than cushion their businesses. Windfalls that could have gone into building up cash reserves were quickly sent out to investors in the form of dividends and buybacks. And so, when hard times came, the cupboards were bare.

Simply put, coal is over. "There was no policy Trump could have implemented that would have changed this situation with coal," historian Peter Shulman, author of "Coal and Empire," said.

How far we have come from the empty vow four years ago to bring back "beautiful, clean coal." Closing that circle of false hope could actually be a good thing for coal country. Coal country can be saved. Coal cannot.

Froma Harrop's column is distributed by Creators Syndicate.