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As federal leaders increase funding for coal communities, many of Wyoming’s eligible areas lack the resources and expertise needed to access it.

In the program’s largest funding announcement to date, the agency funded 57 projects in Appalachian coal communities through the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative.

Despite an epidemic of black lung disease and thousands of abandoned mine lands, funding for federal programs that help address these problems is at risk.

Among other results, the poll found that “90% of statewide respondents and 95% of coal country respondents could identify the benefits of shifting focus from the traditional energy industry in West Virginia towards clean energy production.”

As the state’s fossil fuel industries decline, leaders across Wyoming are exploring creative solutions to help prepare workers for new careers.

The Coal Communities Commitment funding will go toward two programs at the Economic Development Administration.

The 122 KW project, located at a Coalfield facility in Huntington, will be the largest solar project completed by a nonprofit organization in West Virginia.

“President Biden’s American Jobs Plan would create thousands of jobs cleaning up this mess in economically ravaged communities. But in order to ensure these are good-paying, union jobs, we have to require stronger labor provisions for reclamation projects and establish a mine reclamation jobs program within a new Civilian Climate Corps.”

The Kentucky-based nonprofit law firm submitted a petition requesting a new rule that would reduce silica dust—a major cause of black lung disease —in coal mines.

The proposal would have expanded the threshold of “metro” areas from 50,000 to 100,000, increasing the number of “non-metro” areas competing for federal funds designated for rural communities.