Jeff Shaw, jeff.shaw@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The White House released a report today outlining how to ensure coal workers and communities home to coal plants and mines aren’t left behind in the transition to clean, renewable energy.
Karan Ireland, Sierra Club’s Campaign Representative in West Virginia, issued the following statement:
“It is the coal energy and coal workers that came from states like mine that powered our homes, schools, and businesses for decades. Their tireless and often dangerous work fueled American innovation and made our daily lives more comfortable and productive. But we cannot overlook the destruction coal has done to our health, environment, and air, which is why it's time to move beyond it.
As we build the next generation of energy that is clean and renewable, it's critical these workers and communities aren’t left behind. They sacrificed so much and we need to honor their contribution to this nation. This report outlines many ways to do that, and it's important to put those recommendations and other community based ideas that bring new investments to coal communities into practice now before coal companies abandon their workers and communities and as the Biden Administration continues investing in a clean energy economy.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.