Federal policy

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.”