Today President Obama released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2016 and it includes money to help Appalachian communities transition to a future less dependent on coal. According to the Charleston Gazette, the budget includes:
- An additional $20 million specifically for laid-off coal miners and power plant employees for the labor department's $200 million program to provide re-employment services, job training and other support to help transition to jobs in other fields.
- An increase of $25 million in the Appalachian Regional Commission's roughly $70 million annual budget, to be directed specifically to communities "most impacted by coal economic transition" to support "a range of economic development planning and implementation activities," including facilitating access to capital and new markets, and addressing barriers related to adequate water, sewer and telecommunications infrastructure.
- A funding bump of $6 million for the Economic Development Administration within the Department of Commerce targeted to advancing and coordinating the government's "place-based regional innovation efforts," such as grants to assist economically distressed communities foster "an environment conducive to job creation and economic growth."
- New funding of $5 million to the EPA for "brownfields" programs to help communities deal with the closure of coal-fired power plants.
Here's what Bill Price, a native West Virginian and national organizer for the Sierra Club based in Charleston, had to say about this move:
"The Sierra Club applauds the President for producing a budget that includes investments in the livelihoods and health of coal miners and coal mining communities as our country continues the transition from coal to clean energy. It's just wrong that workers and communities throughout Appalachia have borne the brunt of the decline of the coal industry, a decline that is a result of a revolution in the energy sector that includes rapidly falling prices for other energy sources and overwhelming, grassroots public demand for clean energy.
"Coal families and communities deserve our gratitude and respect, and we applaud the President for recognizing the essential need to ensure that our country's transition to a future less dependent on coal is as smooth as it can be. It's time for America to invest in the families and communities that most need new opportunities and the resources to build them.
"The federal government can do for Appalachia today what it did for the Pacific Northwest during the contraction of the timber industry by providing these important funds -- and more. All members of Congress, including Appalachia's representatives, should support this important section of the budget request today."