The politics of mining and resource extraction

[jimrtex]

Coal mining regions used to be traditionally democrat leaning until the rise of environmentalism caused a large backlash in favor of the GOP.

Areas with Energy extractive industries are definitely not going to be anything but strong GOP for the near future as the democrats are now firmly in favor of environmentalist policies.

No, it's because of labor unions.  Check out how mining regions in other western democracies vote.  In America, you can draw a perfect trendline between the decline of labor unions and the decline of the Democratic vote in these regions.  In countries where labor unions are still powerful, historical mining regions vote for the left-wing party.  Environmentalism doesn't help, but I think your cause and effect are reversed.

It is not so much the decline of labor unions, but rather the decline in the population involved in mineral extraction, through mechanization.

[jimrtex]

It is not so much the decline of labor unions, but rather the decline in the population involved in mineral extraction, through mechanization.

No, it's the decline of labor unions.  Mechanization definitely helped cause the decline of organized labor, but it was political action that killed them.  Like I said, take a look at other western countries with mining regions and see how they vote.  There's one thing that makes America different here, and it isn't environmentalism or mechanization.

Where are these mining regions in the United States?

[jimrtex]

In Canada (where unionization is higher), outside the oil and gas sector, resource extraction areas (logging and mining) are usually quite left-leaning.

I guess you see this in places like Butte Montana, northeastern Minnesota etc.

Sure - but there is very little mining in Butte.

In 1900, Silver Bow had 20% of the state population. In 2010 it had 3.5%.

[jimrtex]

I read in another topic that "corn is more Democrat than wheat, and wheat is more Democrat than cattle." What I'm curious to know is, where would mining and resource extraction fall on this spectrum? I'm thinking it'd be over to the right with the cattle, because most hard-core environmentalists tend to be Democrats, and people who work in mining and resource extraction see the Democrat environmental platform as a threat to their livelihood. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.

I've heard, "Cotton is Democratic and wheat is Republican," and that was certainly the case in Texas up until the late 20th century.

Doesn't copper and silver mining in the Western US tend to correlate with Democratic political leanings in places like Montana?

Sure. Butte is very Democratic-leaning. But mining is very limited. The main pit at Anaconda has been closed for some time.

And open-pit mining is very industrialized. "Miners" drive trucks or operate loaders. They are not that dissimilar from highway construction workers. Because the equipment is so expensive, companies can afford to pay workers well. The largest mine in the US (in Utah) has under 2000 workers, and is just outside Salt Lake. It is a relatively small part of employment.