While Clinton has pledged to continue forward at full pace to address climate change as president by emphasizing clean energy, this is her first policy announcement detailing how she would aid displaced coal miners and workers.
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Clinton’s campaign said the plan fits squarely with her climate priorities, which center around expanding the use of renewable energy like wind and solar power.
WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton unveiled a $30 billion plan Thursday that would protect coal miners’ benefits and prepare their communities as the us transitions to cleaner energy sources.
Clinton has said that transitioning to renewable energy “should not mean we move away from coal miners, their families and their communities”, which have “kept the lights on” and driven economic growth. So far, their ideas to preserve the coal-country economy have focused on derailing the rules needed limit the gases that cause climate change, rather than retrofitting that economy for a new century powered by clean energy.
“At the same time, she will not allow coal communities to be left behind – or left out of our economic future”. Republicans have criticized Obama’s plan as a “war on coal” that will devastate producing regions.
Clinton overwhelmingly won coal-producing areas during the 2008 primary against then-Sen. As an example, her campaign cited the example of a recently closed coal plant in Alabama that will soon be the site of a data center by Google.
Clinton’s plan would invest in building roads, bridges, water systems and airports in Appalachia and other coal areas, expand broadband access, increase public investment in research and development and labs.
Clinton ran as a champion of coal when she appealed to blue-collar voters in 2008 in OH and Pennsylvania. In her second bid for president, she has adopted a more progressive stance on environmental issues that includes her recently stated opposition against the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
Her plan includes provisions such as increasing health benefits for coal miners and their families, and providing education, training and business development programs for coal workers to expand their skill sets. Both have positioned themselves to the left of Clinton.
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As president, Clinton would also find ways to replace local revenue for public schools lost when coal production facilities disappear, to ensure that that workers at bankrupt coal companies keep their benefits. The historic shift in the electric power sector toward natural gas, coupled with stricter rules against pollution, prompted at least four major coal companies to seek bankruptcy protection in the past 15 months alone.
