Reclaiming the future of coal states

Last week, I took a break from my day-to-day life in Lexington, Kentucky to do something vitally important for coal communities in my state: I flew to Washington, D.C. and lobbied my representatives and senators on Capitol Hill to pass the RECLAIM Act. It wasn’t just me either, nearly two dozen people from places like West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio took time off work and school to try and push this bill that’s aimed at providing coal communities with more economic opportunities as America’s energy landscape moves away from coal.

The RECLAIM Act allocates $1 billion from the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation fund for projects aimed at cleaning up dangerous, discarded coal mines, while boosting local employment and creating jobs that can foster long-term businesses for local communities. The idea for the bill came about after dozens of cities, towns, and counties across Appalachia passed resolutions and lobbied their federal representatives to adopt the POWER Plus Plan, which was introduced last year by the White House to help support families and diversify economies in coal communities.

{mosads}Seeing the groundswell of support from local residents and organizations in coal country, Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) introduced the RECLAIM Act in February, and since then, the bill’s support has grown from a handful at its initial introduction, to 23 co-sponsors today — which includes both Democrats and Republicans. That’s not surprising when you consider the poll that the Sierra Club and West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy released in late September, which shows that 89 percent of voters in prominent coal states — like Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania — support the RECLAIM Act and think the government should do more to invest in economic diversification projects in coal communities.

In those coal states, the bill is supported by 89 percent of Republicans, 93 percent of Democrats, and 87 percent of those currently or formerly employed in the coal industry. By a two-to-one margin, the poll’s respondents wanted decision-makers to prioritize helping coal areas diversify their economies. Additionally, the respondents place equally high levels of importance on protecting water quality in rivers and lakes from abandoned mines as they do on assisting communities with economic development.  

Don’t get me wrong, the RECLAIM Act is by no means a cure-all to all coal communities across the country, but it’s a solid step in the right direction and would provide an opportunity to strengthen eastern Kentucky communities like my hometown of Pikeville.  Based on research conducted by the Appalachian Citizens Law Center and the Alliance for Appalachia, this funding could result in up $500 million in total economic impact to the nation’s economy annually. Further research shows that this will also support the creation and maintenance of 4,600 jobs in places where they are sorely needed.

Considering that many communities across coal states need new economic opportunities, Congress should not only speedily pass RECLAIM before it adjourns for the year, but also introduce more bills like it that are targeted to the areas of coal country that are working to find a new path forward.

That’s ultimately why we all came to Washington: we want Congress to help places like Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, southern Ohio, and southwestern Virginia stay competitive in a rapidly changing energy economy. We came from all over to get this done and now it’s up to Congress to step up and pass the RECLAIM Act now.

Sarah Bowling is volunteer for Kentuckians for the Commonwealth in Lexington, Ky.

The views expressed by authors are their own and not the views of The Hill.