Federal policy

During the recent Focus Forward 2022 conference in Morgantown, two of the key players in the administration’s goals shared their thoughts on progress so far, the work ahead and the feedback they are hearing from stakeholders on the ground.

A new bill in West Virginia will leverage federal infrastructure invesments to support grant writing and matching funds requirements for local communities.

Wyoming communities bracing for coal production downturns and coal-fired power plant closures will receive support from assorted federal “revitalization” grant programs, despite being shut out of the initial round of funding in December, according to the leader of President Joe Biden’s coal communities effort.

Federal abandoned mine lands investments in Utah have communities thinking of how to create sustainable developlment and leverage their unique assets amid coal closures.

Advocates for communities seeking a piece of the hundreds of billions of dollars in new assistance worry that the process may be "too weighty, too heavy and too full of bureaucracy."

Unions representing other workers affected by climate legislation have struck deals, but opposition from coal miners has persisted, complicating the path to enactment.

How the installation of broadband internet is revitalizing hard-hit communities and rural economies.

The trillion-dollar infrastructure bill passed by Congress last month includes $11.3 billion for abandoned-mine reclamation and cleanup over the next 15 years. For Pennsylvania's coal communities, the support is long overdue.

Experts say renewable energy jobs don't always appeal — or just aren't available — to workers who are losing their jobs to the closure of coal mines and power plants.

The Journal's editorial board suggests that the first coal community listening sessions held by the West Virginia House of Delegates Coal Community Working Group illustrate the "need for diversification and new job opportunities" in the region.

While noting there are some “risks,” the U.S. Treasury’s climate counselor labels programs designed to accelerate the closure of coal plants as essential to tackling climate concerns, emphasizing new investments to close plants in developing countries.

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

“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.

Encouraged by President Biden’s new working group and infrastructure plan, transition advocates are calling for community-informed policies that address a range of needs.

Developed by President Biden’s new Interagency Working Group, the report identifies 25 priority communities, lists federal programs that communities can leverage, and includes recommendations for addressing transition challenges.

A new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Utility Workers Union of America estimates that coal workers need $33 billion to $83 billion in wage replacement, job training, and other types of support.

A new report from Resources for the Future and the Environmental Defense Fund shows how stronger workforce development policies and labor standards can help displaced fossil fuel workers succeed in a low-carbon economy.

For nearly 60 years, presidents have promised to lift up Appalachia, but many communities remain on the brink.

“President Biden’s executive order recognizes what people in the coalfields have known for years—that they sacrificed to grow our nation’s economy, and that they now bear the brunt of changes in global energy markets. This announcement gives us new hope that we can accelerate the just transition to a new economy, an economy that can be more diverse, resilient, sustainable and equitable.”

Analysts expect coal’s decline to continue, but the President is taking steps to support communities impacted by this transition.

With political attention focused on West Virginia, community leaders and national development experts think the state provides a model for how the federal government can promote rural prosperity through investment in broadband, local amenities, and other strategies.

“Solving this problem of large numbers of people at risk of being left behind in the transition to a clean energy economy is not just the right thing to do for people and families who have sacrificed for generations to keep the lights on—it is a necessary set of investments to ensure that the federal climate solutions we have been fighting for will be durable over time.”

As coal continues to decline, communities from West Virginia to Wyoming see a need for state and federal policy support.

An editorial board for a newspaper in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming has questioned the Trump administration’s controversial proposal to prop up failing coal-fired electricity generation plants. “Coal’s place in the energy sector has changed,” the editorial says. “Investing in our past will only shortchange us in the future.”