Coal Is Dying, But Hillary Clinton Has A Plan To Save Coal Communities

[Skidmore]

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/11/12/3721674/hillary-coal-plan/

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“Today we are in the midst of a global energy transition,” the Plan For Revitalizing Coal Communities says, citing the rise of natural gas and renewable energy. “We can’t ignore the impact this transition is already having on mining communities, or the threat it poses to the healthcare and retirement security of coalfield workers and their families.”

Clinton’s plan calls for $30 billion towards infrastructure improvements, mine land remediation, training and education programs, and incentives for business investment in Appalachia, the Illinois Basin, and the Western coal areas.

“What I like about this plan is that it’s multi-faceted,” Evan Hansen, president of Downstream Strategies, a West Virginia-based environmental consulting firm, told ThinkProgress. “There is no one solution.”

Hansen pointed to education, for example. While many people in coal communities need training and education that will make them more attractive employees, training the workforce alone is not enough. The areas also need to bolster the businesses that will hire people, Hansen said, and that means improving standard of living in order to attract new investment. Clinton’s plan includes both infrastructure and broadband improvements....more