While renewable energy is creating a windfall of new jobs, communities that have depended on jobs from the fossil fuel industry will experience significant job losses. Just transition policies and funding are critical to carry these communities into new economies. In this Truthout article, noted MIT scholar Noam Chomsky and leading world economist Robert Pollin discuss how saving fossil fuel communities is critical to realizing a world built on clean energy.
The second annual report on federal broadband funding is out. The “big four” sources of federal broadband funding are the Department of Commerce, the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Treasury and the Department of Agriculture. Collectively, these departments are expanding broadband infrastructure to more households, schools, healthcare facilities and telehealth initiatives, businesses, farms, Tribal governments and institutions, libraries, colleges and “last-mile” areas.
U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) announced that West Virginia has received $140,684,000 to reclaim abandoned mine lands as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding will be used to support economic development in West Virginia communities transitioning away from coal.
We’re excited to announce that the Just Transition Fund has recently committed grants and technical assistance to help 11 projects across seven states prepare applications for Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) funding, including to the POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) and ARISE (Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies) initiatives.
We’re excited to announce the launch of our policy grant cycle, which will focus on supporting efforts to create and implement state transition funds.
High speed internet is an essential element of a healthy economy in today’s world, and it’s encouraging to see internet providers and government at virtually every level continue working to expand broadband internet access in rural areas. Modern agriculture and quality healthcare now depend on broadband access, as does economic development in all other areas. As funding opportunities grow, more communities are getting better at taking advantage.
The USDA recently announced that $20 million in federal funding is now available to deliver broadband technical assistance for rural communities. This funding opportunity will use technical assistance funds available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, with minimum awards of $50,000 and maximum awards of $1,000,000.
The Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition has released its annual report, “National to Neighborhoods: Catalyzing Opportunities for Coal-Impacted Communities.” This report details success stories such as Coalfield Development’s historic Build Back Better project, Appalachian Voices’ work to develop Biological Carbon Removal reclamation models, and Rural Action’s efforts to build outdoor recreation assets. Communities across the Appalachian states of Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia are benefiting from federal resources, including more than $11 billion in funds for the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program.
Forcing the market to preserve coal assets through legislation or litigation is like swimming into the current to save yourself — wasting precious energy with little result. Rather than fighting the inevitable, we should put our energy toward helping coal communities transition to a more sustainable and economically promising future. Former mines and other coal assets like power lines, machines and buildings could save hundreds of millions of dollars for new industry, while also reusing existing cleared land to avoid disruption to migration corridors.
The Appalachian Climate Technologies Coalition (ACT Now Coalition) is dramatically expanding on more than a decade of momentum after being named one of 21 winners of the American Rescue Plan’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge. Among the projects that will receive support from this award are a former coal railcar factory in Charleston that will be converted to a green battery institute (in partnership with Marshall University) and an electric vertical take-off and landing facility, as well as an opportunity for renewable energy expansion and a regenerative agriculture social enterprise.
We’re excited to announce the launch of our Coal Communities Get Ready! Challenge! We know that communities have visionary ideas for growing and transforming their local economies, but often need targeted support to be ready to apply for and manage the federal funding that can bring these ideas to scale.
Senior administration officials announced new policies that aim to ensure that rural regions hit by mine closures and shuttered power plants can get an economic boost from new federal cash for energy and infrastructure funding.
