Revitalizing coal communities is a huge challenge
From an Article by Josephine Moore, Beckley Register Herald, October 27, 2021
Residents of southern West Virginia are being asked to imagine a new and better future by West Virginia lawmakers who will soon be in possession of federal funds which will be used to turn those dreams into realities. Some $39 billion in federal funds are being made available to southern West Virginia as well as 24 other communities across the country as part of the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization established by President Joe Biden in January.
On Wednesday, nearly 30 people from Raleigh and surrounding counties gathered in the cafeteria of Woodrow Wilson High School to talk with state legislators about what their communities, which have seen wide-reaching effects from the decline of the coal industry, need to take positive strides for the future.
To make sure every voice was heard, the people were organized into small groups and asked to discuss and write down answers to prepared questionnaires that dealt with jobs and displaced workers, economic development and local officials.
While there was talk about using money to improve roads, investing in small businesses, working on flood mitigation and more, retired Raleigh County coal miner Joe Carter summed up what he believes southern West Virginia needs in one word, “Jobs.” Carter said he knows people are getting educated and receiving training in West Virginia in a number of important fields, but the problem is, once the training is complete, most times a person has to move elsewhere because they can’t find a job in West Virginia. “You can have all the training in the world, but you have to have a job to go to when the training is done,” he said. “…What happened to green jobs that were supposed to be replacing what jobs we’re losing in the coal industry … they’re not here.”
Carter, who worked in coal for 41 years and sported a UMWA polo at Wednesday’s gathering, said people should be looking to resourcefulness and skills of the same industry that has taken on the brunt of the problems to be the solution. He pointed to the people working in machine shops across southern West Virginia that currently build machinery for mines. He asked why those individuals, who already have experience in machinery, couldn’t be trained to build solar panels or wind turbines. “If we’re going to manufacture something, let’s manufacture something that future generations can do instead,” Carter said.
Wednesday’s gathering was the second Coal Community Workshop led by a group of 16 West Virginia delegates. The workgroup, led by Del. Mark Dean, R-Mingo, was created in June and tasked with going out into the community and listening to the public’s thoughts on problems they face as well as possible solutions.
Using what they hear, Del. Ed Evans, D-McDowell, said they will incorporate those needs into legislation that will be presented in the coming session by using the $38.9 billion in federal funding made available as a result of an executive order signed by President Joe Biden in January. The order is called the Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, and it established the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization.
Evans said this Interagency Working Group identified the top 25 coal-dependent areas that have been greatly impacted by the declining coal industry and that would benefit from funding. At the top of that list was southern West Virginia, Evans said. He added that the money coming to this area is “once in a lifetime” and the West Virginia lawmakers need to have community input to know how to spend it in the most effective way. He said that he would also like to see these funds used in conjunction with American Rescue Plan Act funding also made available to many southern West Virginia communities.
Del. Mick Bates, R-Raleigh, who is not a member of the House workgroup but was present at Wednesday’s gathering, said the incoming funds present a “unique opportunity” for the future of West Virginia. “It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to be able to bring resources to the southern coalfields that can change forever its trajectory,” Bates said. “It’s on us to ensure that those resources are put to good use and that our children and great-grandchildren look back and say (we) did good things with this money.”
Autumn Crowe, a staff scientist for West Virginia Rivers Coalition, also attended the workshop with coworker Morgan King, a climate camping coordinator. Crowe said they were there to make sure legislators kept climate change in mind and the impact it has on the state and country when thinking about plans for the future.
“We’re seeing a decline in coal and we know that climate change is a very real risk for our state with the flooding and droughts that we’re experiencing,” Crowe said. “We want to help with the transition process to renewable energy.” She lives in Lewisburg now, but Crowe said she used to live in Williamsburg near an active mine and still remembers feeling the blasts from her home. “I can speak from experience living in communities that are impacted by mining … but also as a staff scientist for a statewide organization that is very concerned with people’s access to clean water,” she said. “There is a lot of issues in coal country with people having access to clean water.”
Brenda Ellis, of Wyoming County, said she felt like her county had been all but forgotten by most. “In Wyoming County, we don’t have a hospital. We don’t have no kind of facility that stays open 24 hours, and our overdoses are getting so bad,” she said. “I feel sorry for the people because we’re forgotten.” While others in her group talked about bringing in manufacturing jobs or addressing climate change, Ellis said she felt like her community simply needed more local stores to shop at without having to go outside the county for basic needs.
The first Coal Community Workshop was hosted Tuesday in Logan County. Two more workshops are scheduled to take place in early November. The first is in Marshall County on Tuesday, Nov. 9, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Marshall County Fairgrounds in the Chevron Building, at 714 Myrtle Ave. in Moundsville. The other is in Monongalia County on Wednesday, Nov. 10, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at Shack Neighborhood House, at 537 Blue Horizon Drive in Pursglove.
Anyone can add their voice to the conversation via email at: coalcommunity@wvhouse.gov
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See also: West Virginia dominates list of 25 coal communities that are focus of federal economic effort, Article by Brad McElheny, WV Metro News, April 24, 2021
The task force that reports to President Joe Biden has started identifying federal funding to try to help, named a West Virginian as its executive director and has promised to embark on a series of town halls to hear from residents.
The White House Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization has named 25 areas that need help. No. 1 was southern West Virginia. No. 3 was the area surrounding Wheeling, which means West Virginia has two of the highest priority areas. No. 11 included 23 counties in the northern part of West Virginia. No. 23 was the area around Beckley. No. 24 was the area around Charleston, particularly Kanawha, Clay and Boone counties. So West Virginia represents five of the top 25 coalfield communities in the country in need of economic revitalization.
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