Clinton, a descendant of Appalachian coal miners, has said switching to clean energy “should not mean we move away from coal miners, their families, and their communities”, which have “kept the lights on” and stimulated the economy. The plan will also use a combination of tax incentives and government grants to help coal-dependent communities repurpose old mine sites and attract new economic investment.
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The new objectives are all part of her plan to preserve and expand on President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which sets rules to lower carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels in the next 15 years. Building on her commitment to defend coal miners’ health and retirement benefits against corporate intrusion, today Hillary Clinton released a comprehensive strategy for revitalizing coal communities across America. She would also reform the black lung benefit program and safeguard funding for local schools suffering from revenue reductions due to coal decline. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industry directly provided about 74,000 jobs in 2014 versus almost 175,000 in 1985. Coal now accounts for one-third of USA power generation, with consumption falling 25 percent over the past decade.
“But we’re going to use coal, there’s no doubt about it”, said Clinton at a 2008 campaign event in Indiana. Republicans have criticized Obama’s plan as a “war on coal” that will devastate producing regions. In recent months, Clinton has tackled left on environmental issues, pledging to make combatting climate change a major goal of her presidency and opposing the Keystone XL pipeline, which was rejected by the Obama administration on Friday. She has said fossil fuel extraction on public lands should be phased out gradually and that she would not oppose lifting a long-standing ban on crude oil exports if it came with tradeoffs for clean energy, drawing criticism from environmentalists.
Sanders, who calls his longtime Keystone opposition a “no brainer”, last week backed a proposal to halt new leases for fossil fuel extraction on public lands.
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The plan aims at helping workers in Appalachia and other coal-producing areas that have been adversely affected by the fall in coal production and the closure of coal-fired power plants, by investing in economic diversification and job creation.
