With 20 co-sponsors and growing on Capitol Hill, the bipartisan RECLAIM Act presents a great opportunity for coal communities across America that are looking to diversify their economies and create long-term, family wage jobs. In addition to the $1 billion earmarked for projects geared toward cleaning up dangerous coal mines and spurring local economic growth, the RECLAIM Act also creates a unique opening for its supporters in Congress to make sure coal communities have a real say in how it’s investments are put to use.
Last week, a dozen local and national organizations fighting for more economic opportunities in Appalachia released a set of guiding principles that will help the bill’s Congressional supporters do just that. It provides essential guidelines to ensure it’s final version focuses heavily on local involvement and fosters real economic benefits that reach communities that are facing the toughest hardships. The six core principles stress the need for the final bill to:
Improve the quality of life for people and communities affected by economic disruption, environmental damage, and inequality,
Foster inclusion, participation and collaboration,
Generate stable, family-sustaining, meaningful jobs and broad access to opportunities and benefits,
Promote innovation, self-reliance and broadly held local wealth,
Protect and restore public health and our environment,
Respect the past while also strengthening communities and culture,
The goal in following these principles is to produce strong, lasting outcomes that will revitalize local economies, protect families from the waste left behind by coal companies, and energize local people to participate in building a stronger Appalachia together. In this spirit, the groups, which includes the Sierra Club, are asking the bill’s supporters to ensure that the language in the final billstresses the need to engage a variety of local stakeholders to help shape the vision and priorities on the types of economic diversification projects funded.
This means that the final bill must make sure that each project that’s funded is characterized by a robust stakeholder collaboration process that prioritizes innovative economic projects that direct economic benefits to the local community, while also giving states the sufficient time and resources to solicit, select, and implement the best projects.
Following these guiding principles will help optimize the impact of RECLAIM Act’s investments and give the people whom it is supposed to benefit a say in rebuilding their communities. We couldn’t be happier that RECLAIM is finally getting the attention that it deserves, now it’s time to make sure it gets the tools it needs to be most effective. As the process moves forward, the bill’s co-sponsors and supporters in Congress must listen to the people it’s designed to help, which, after all, is the most important hallmark of any effective policy.
-- Bill Price, Senior Organizing Representative for Appalachia