Coal production is on the decline in the U.S., and while that’s a good thing for the climate, it’s making finding a job difficult for many people in coal-heavy states, particularly in Appalachia. To help ease the immediate effects that coal’s decline is having in our region, the Administration submitted a plan to Congress earlier this year to help coal country rebound from the decline of what has historically been its most valuable resource. The plan, called POWER+, seeks to provide more than $200 million annually to various federal agencies to support job creation and training, economic diversification, and other economic efforts in communities that have experienced layoffs due to the declining coal industry. Congress is currently debating how much funding to allocate for these purposes.
You can download details of the plan here.
The Tennessee Chapter's Just Transitions organizer, Bonnie Swinford worked with Campbell County residents to deliver a presentation to their County Commissioners on August 2, and the following week the Commission unanimously passed a resolution in support of the POWER+ Plan, and asking Tennessee's Congressional delegation to support it in coming budget deliberations.. Read our press release here and a copy of the resolution here.
Campbell County is the first locality in Tennessee to join a growing number of Appalachian communities voicing support for the federal budget proposal, which is currently the most comprehensive plan to support muchneeded economic development in the region. Many City and county officials in coalfield areas have passed resolutions in favor of the plan including the Wise County Board of Supervisors, the Cumberland Plateau planning district and the City of Norton in Virginia, and the City of Whitesburg, the City of Benham, Letcher County Board of Supervisors,and the Harlan County Board of Supervisors in Kentucky.
If you live in any of these counties--Fentress, Cumberland, Van Buren, Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Grundy, Marion, Hamilton, Rhea, Claiborne, Scott, Warren, Anderson, Rhone, White or Overton--and would like to help support the POWER+ Plan in your community, contact Bonnie Swinford at bswinford1@yahoo.com.