Open thread: What can we do for coal miners when it all goes dark?

[RandySF]

I am a grandchild and nephew of coal workers, but I know where it's all heading. And to be honest, I have no idea what can be done when the mine go quiet.

[Corgigal]

1. Same thing

that was done for the steel workers in Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Just because an adult lives in denial, isn't my problem. It was all predictable.

[Yavin4]

32. Auto workers in Detroit. Ship yard workers in Oakland, CA

Mfg workers in NY, Chi, and Phi.

[greymattermom]

2. The west is full of ghost towns where there used to be mines.

What happened to those miners? They left, found other work, somewhere else. Just like the rest of us have done when our plans didn't last forever. A good friend of mine with a PhD and 25 years of teaching experience in biology, i.e. pre nursing, allied health, etc. works as a warehouse dispatcher.

[dhol82]

30. That is really sad.

Damn.

[oberliner]

53. Why not a nurse?

I thought they were in high demand.

[Horse with no Name]

68. Certain parts of the country are saturated with nurses

And many places won’t hire over 50 nurses.
Also...many over 50 nurses can’t do the job. It’s backbreaking.

[BlueDog22]

3. Rust Belt

Same thing with the factory jobs in the rust belt.

[wonkwest]

4. I'd like to see some old school TVA-style infrastructure development in the region

With a main focus on repairing the environmental damage the industry has inflicted over the years.

Our country is rotting from the inside out. Gotta start somewhere. Why not there?

[Sophia4]

26. Right. We need that across Appalachia and throughout the Midwest.

[Blue_true]

62. Repairing the environmental damage could provide jobs for two decades.

I favor working with the advantages the region has, like scenery, ideal climate for flavorful berries, ideal for music festivals.

[Drahthaardogs]

73. I work environmental jobs

We are cleaning up most of it. There is not really much left to do. I would never encourage a young person to enter the field. The work is drying up.

[Blue_true]

75. Even in places like West Virginia.

What area of environmental reclamation do you work it? I know more about industrial abatement (scrubbing systems, dilution systems - air and water, filtration and purifying water) - those areas are doing ok and need new equipment developed pretty much constantly. I am working on a project now where I have to figure out how to put metals in a gas phase, react them in specific ratios, then clean up the effluent stream to keep them from being released into the air - it is pretty involved, highly technical work that I don't see going away.

One of the issues that I have read about concerning coal is the amount of heavy metals that got dug up with coal, there is some ground and water bed contamination, my guess is figuring out how to clean that up and getting it done will take a while.

[Drahthaardogs]

82. I do environmental toxicology, remediation of historical sites

Everything from dioxins to old military munitions, groundwater modeling, TCE, and the new perfluorinated compounds. CERCLA, TSCA, a little RCRA now and then.

It's not the seventies anymore. Most of the work is done. Heavy metals are really not that big an issue.

You are talking about waste stream management. That work will continue.

[X_Digger]

77. Even when new deal programs were active, this area was ignored.

My great grandfather worked for the WPA/CCC in the thirties- they shipped him 400 miles away to the nearest national forest to do work.

The problem is about the land. Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, the Carolinas- all have enough flat land to make infrastructure development a fairly straightforward proposition. Widening a road might involve buying property from owners, then getting to work.

In much of coal country, you have to blow away a section of mountain and haul it away, or tunnel, to make a new road.

I grew up seeing about 80 degrees of sky most of the time- mountains straight up on both sides, everyone at the bottom by the creek.

[vi5]

5. We tried already...

..I'd have to look up the details but under Obama there was some sort of re-training program offered. I believe the result was too few took up on the offer and the end result of daring to ask them to think about doing something new was them voting for trump.

[ProudLib72]

9. I remember an article posted here about that maybe six months back

Yes, there was government funded retraining, but few took them up on the offer. What sort of government funded retraining will they get now, a reopening of Rump U?

[Dulcinea]

38. This.

Coal is all these people know. They don't want retraining. They're terrified of change, and don't want to hear that their way of life is gone & will never come back. Dolt 45 told them exactly what they wanted to hear, & they chose to believe it. I have a lot of family in SWPA, including plenty of coal miners.

[hatrack]

45. Well, then they have a choice . . .

1. They can face their terror, and change - and for the record, I think most people can do this.

2. They can sit around and place bets on whether they end up dying from black lung or from an oxy/fentanyl overdose.

[Blue_true]

63. You make a good point.

A guy of 40-50 who worked in the mines since he was 18 isn't going to retrain unless there is a sure job that pays the same or more.

Some people do make good points. President Obama tried to get retraining off the ground, Hillary had sound plans for the region, they spat in both their faces.

[tonyt53]

84. Real reason? They quit school at 16 and failed at least one grade before then.

I was actually going to retraining "seminars", trying to recruit those laid off workers to go into the union building trades. I spoke to at least 300 over the course of a couple of months. How many actually followed up? 2, and one quit after a week. The other lasted almost a year. When you tell them that they have to attend school to learn the trade, they had no interest. School scared the shit out of them. Sadly nothing has changed. Yep, they spat in the faces of those that tried to help.

[smirkymonkey]

49. I can't understand that mindset. If I had been laid off from a dying industry with little chance of

ever being rehired at full-pay, I would jump at the chance for re-training. Why would you refuse when you know that things couldn't possibly get any better if you didn't make any changes?

[vi5]

50. When you have scam artists like the GOP and in particular Trump..

...telling you that you don't need to do any of that, and that your dying industry will be coming back.....it's easy to believe what you want to believe.

[RKP5637]

51. Sad, but quite true. Exactly what happened. n/t

[Blue_true]

64. What jobs are they going to retrain for?

Do you train them and ask them to apply for jobs in some other part of the country that they know nothing about? Retraining has to come with some time of pipeline to the day after a person gets his or her certificate.

[smirkymonkey]

72. Solar energy, wind energy, accounting, construction - anything except for a job

in a dying industry. They can retrain for fucking anything but what they do because there is no hope for that industry. Of course they know nothing about it, that is the whole purpose of re-training.

They may have to move. A lot of us do move for jobs in order to make a living. People need to learn to be flexible. I believe the government has a responsibility to help them retrain and relocate in order to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there. It's better than sitting around whining about how your coal jobs aren't coming back.

[JI7]

6. There is a lot that can be done but not with the type of people they tend

To vote for.

Too many refuse to accept it and keep waiting for coal to come back.

[ooky]

25. Sadly, this is the case and is a prime example of people who vote against their own interests

and instead for man who tells them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.

[Hortensis]

7. We (Democrats) still have the plans we intended

to implement under Hillary's administration for the eastern coal regions in Kentucky and WV. It's not really changed, just delayed, though I'm wondering about all the money being sacked from our funds, and of course our next administration might have different priorities as we fix the damage from this one.

But in any case, Hillary's plans are very comprehensive, meant to bring the various things required to revitalize the nice towns people don't want to leave, to bring to industry and develop the various supports business needs in order to open facilities and move executives there, including of course training locals to to fill the new jobs, etcetera, etcetera.

We have coal towns hurting in other parts of the country too, and no doubt we have also have plans to help some, most or all of them also. To stop, where possible, the slow death of town after town as young people move away to find decent jobs and leave the older people behind. I suspect that won't be realistic in some places that only grew where they did because that was where the coal was.

But we will get to work when we get power again. My husband read to me that California is now going to require all new houses to have solar, but that already some 19% do. (!) Really? We've been gone for 20 years and it's hard to believe that when solar is such a foreign idea here in Georgia. But Hillary had planned to put nearly half a Billion solar cells on America's roofs by the end of her FIRST term, so obviously it's very doable and just unfortunately delayed.

There's so much we can and will do. Progressivism isn't about wingnut hostility to establishment figures, after all. Progressivism is using government to tackle problems too big or unprofitable for individuals and private industry. And the liberal-dominated Democratic Party is and always has been progressive.

[Blue_true]

65. You were all over the problem. Loved your last paragraph. nt

[bettyellen]

8. What about retail employees? There's more of them making less and jobs are disappearing...

[RKP5637]

52. Yep, retail is going to go the same way, same for truck drivers, same for most everything.

None of the politicians really address the future in terms of how do you run a capitalistic society that requires jobs/incomes to keep the machine running. There just will not be enough jobs to run a traditional capitalistic economy.

[Blue_true]

66. Yep.

Some serious thought need to be paid to the concept of guaranteed incomes and the issues such a system raise. Ultimately machines will replace all but the most highly skilled and specialized worker.

[RKP5637]

76. I wonder, think how a country might be run with AI. Better or scary ... guess it's who programs

first and how. AI would likely be better than tRump. We are all still infants no matter how much we think we have advanced. Sure better than prehistoric days. Many politicians are lightweights, certainly true today for the most part.

[Blue_true]

79. Tomorrow is Friday.

Buy yourself a big stash of good instant pop popcorn and set up for mega viewing of all the Terminator movies. Trump is a complete ass, but if it came down to him or a machine, I really would have to think about that.

[RKP5637]

80. Yep, sounds great!!! "... a big stash of good instant pop popcorn and set up for mega viewing of all

the Terminator movies."

[Blue_true]

81. Either way we lose. nt

[0rganism]

10. might be a good opportunity for congress to explore Universal Basic Income

the problems faced by coal miners are similar to the problems we're all about to face as automation ramps up past the point where humans are no longer required for tasks of low or moderate complexity.

we haven't even begun to address this problem on the scale required, and at this point we don't have a congress capable of addressing it. fortunately there's probably at least 10 years left before it hits us all real hard but it's a huge problem and if we don't do something nationally to handle the difficulties of a post-employment world, we're going to be sorry on an unimaginable scale.

[dhol82]

31. Seriously?

Do you really think that congress will address this concept anytime within the next century?

[0rganism]

39. pretty soon there won't be a choice

that said, the current bunch couldn't do it if their lives depended on it. just another in a long list of reasons to replace the majority.

the way i see it, in 10 years the problem will become obvious, in 20 it's going to be a major source of concern, and if nothing is done in 30 years we're going to be ass-deep in alligators. something will have to be done eventually or very few people will be able to participate in a dwindling human economy - the AIs will have their own and do quite well thank you very much.

whether our legislative branch can muster the courage to tackle the issue is up to voters. we may not get there soon but we have to get there. unless there's a nuclear war or something comparably cataclysmic - a massive EM fry could delay the problem for a while.

[Blue_true]

69. Hillary proposed a robot tax and people laughed at her.

But she was forward thinking on this issue.

Most of the recent job growth has been in low wage jobs and online APPs (selling sites, buying sites, gaming sites, social sites, ect). There has not been a really breakthrough invention in the last 10 years, most technological progress can best be described as extensions on what already exists.

Low wage jobs will ultimately be done by machines. Elon Musk tried automated auto building and had issues, but he or someone else will get robotic auto building right and most of the jobs there will be gone.

All the APPs being built really produce nothing of value other than making a specific activity possible. They don't create a lot of jobs. The count on most people having jobs to use them.

Like you pointed out, we have 20 years max before machines will replace numerous classes of workers. If you look carefully, bank branches are STILL closing because people don't need tellers or loan officers and few people are writing checks. Heck, even commercial washing machines take debit cards not, so people don't even need banks for change.

[RKP5637]

54. I agree with you. Years ago in my college econ classes we discussed briefly the day when jobs, most

jobs, would be a thing of the past. It was so far into the future back then that it just got passing mention by the professor, but as he said back then, that day will come. Also, it's rapidly accelerating now.

[wasupaloopa]

11. We need to rebuild our infrastructure.sd

We put money into infrastructure banks. The money is lent to communities at very little interest to give construction contracts to companies willing to hire and retrain people like miners. Teach them skills that can stay with them into the future.

Also as much as possible buy raw materials locally even if it means opening new businesses. Q

[manor321]

12. Steel

One and two generations before me in my family were steel workers. As it started to slide they were able to lean on the social safety net that Democrats had built over decades.

But Republicans have seriously damaged that safety net, because that's what Republican voters have done for the last 30 years. And some of those people are workers and coal miners!

[Hekate]

13. Old Democratic ideas that Republicans always destroy. :-( Just one addition: get programs in schools

Starting in junior high (to catch the ones who are going to drop out of high school) offer hands-on shop classes in construction of new solar and wind technology, and later on, early apprenticeships.

I don't ever want to say their fathers and uncles are a lost cause -- but damn.

[politicaljunkie41910]

14. Find a new trade. California has Community Colleges which are two year colleges where

you can get a two-year college education inexpensively or learn a trade. If you want to earn a four year college degree you can transfer to a 4 yr state college after completing the two year college, which is also inexpensive to attend when compared to private colleges and universities. By the way, you now know something that your president doesn't know, and that is "what is a community college?" I've heard him ask that question now at two of his rallies and apparently he didn't care to find out what the answer to his question was the first time.

Also, have you ever thought of joining the military. There are many jobs in the military which can prepare you for a civilian career. I used to work for the federal government so I've been in the military as well as working alongside the military at various times as a government worker. Good luck and I hope you find something that will make you happy, provide you with a secure employment future, and will keep you healthy.

[TlalocW]

15. Probably nothing

And this may seem harsh because I don't live in that part of the country and maybe can't understand it, but I don't get their mindset.

They're wrapped up in Stockholm Syndrome to the mine owners who keep screwing them over combined with a belief that out of all the jobs in the country, they deserve some sort of special consideration because "my daddy was a coal miner and so was his daddy and his daddy, and our jobs represent 'Merica!!!" And out of all the jobs in America, republicans support that belief because of their support of coal. Otherwise, we're told to go back to school, get training, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, etc.

Nothing is going to change as long as they keep voting against their own interests and keep electing republicans. Democrats might come up with some sort of job-training program, but I doubt any miners would even consider it.

There are 50,000 coal miners left in the industry. I'd be in favor of some sort of item in the budget solely for them to use to move somewhere else and start over and/or get job-training in something else if there's any other industry in the area that could support more workers. First $2000 is free. Anything else has to be paid back at incredibly low interest rates. Once again, I don't think they would take it.

On Edit: And I see from other replies posted while I was writing, that there were such programs, and they were ignored. In Tennessee Ernie Ford's, "16 Tons," there's a line about selling my soul to the company store. For any youngin's that don't get that, coal mine companies would set up their own town, sometimes with their own currency, but always with their own store for groceries and other needs that were sold at inflated prices, keeping the workers in debt and working to pay it off. I think that's when Stockholm Syndrome set in, and it's just passed from generation to generation.

http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2018/03/09

TlalocW

[handmade34]

16. hmmm let me remember...

Hillary offered retraining??!! the way of progress / evolution / life changes / etc... the same with dairy farms and farmers... Vermont has lost thousands of dairy farms and we must find ways to change/adapt...

[Volaris]

17. Have the Dept of Energy buy every damn square foot

Of empty industrial floor space in the rust belt and applalachia (sp?), for a song on Eminent Domain, and start making Solar Panels.

[RandySF]

20. +1000

[RKP5637]

57. K&R!!! n/t

[mcar]

18. Solar and wind technology

We vacationed in WVA a few years ago. Beautiful country. We were struck by the number of wind turbines on the mountains, followed by the blight of strip mined mountains.

The state has great State Parks and natural resources. So much poverty, though.

A true liberal plan could save the state.

[TheCowsCameHome]

19. Nobody saw this coming.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. With all due respect,

coal mining is by no means the first and will surely not be the last, job to go dark.

When I was a child older people would refer to buggy whip makers. All of them went out of business.

How about telephone operators? A long time ago you couldn't make a call without going through an operator, typically known as "Central".

I went to work for Ma Bell in 1967. Phones had long since gone to dial, although most long distance calls were still placed through an operator. I remember reading at that time that if it weren't for dial capability, every single adult woman in the country would need to be an operator to place all of the calls that were made every day. You used to call an operator to get connected to the fire department or police.

Somehow all of those women found other jobs.

It is going to be incumbent on them to be at least a little bit pro-active, and not try to pretend it's still 1937 or whatever year coal mining was at its peak.

[Stinky The Clown]

22. HRC had plans to aid in this. Coal miners rejected her.

I'm sick of saving dumbfucks from themselves.

[panader0]

24. Was going to say this too.

HRC was honest about coal jobs disappearing. She was lambasted about it.

[wonkwest]

48. I wish she had never walked that back

She was speaking 100% truth, and the media framed it as some sort of political faux pas.

Someone has to tell those people the truth. I was glad our presidential candidate was the one to do so. But, oh no, she didn't pander. There are a few things I think Hillary fucked up, but that was not one of them. She was offering a solution, and the media ran to paint her a villain. Fuck them.

[RKP5637]

58. Yep! Agree!!! It get's damn tiring of listening to many of them whine and then they vote in

people like Trump and his herd. The excuse of being ill-informed can only go so far. Some IMO are totally dumbfucks. Nothing, is probably going to help them.

[GulfCoast66]

23. That easy.

Insure that the jobs they move away for in Lexington, Louisville, Morgantown, Cincinnati etc pay the same, equal or better wage that the coal job paid. Cause the coal jobs paid well because of union battles. No reason other industries can’t.

Thinking the Appalachians can support a huge population may just be wishful thinking.

And keep in mind not those poor Trump voters stuck in dipshit America. Think about the millions and millions who have got the hell out of these places and are living a great life. I work with many of them.

[Oneironaut]

27. They don't want to hear the truth. They want people (like Trump) to tell them that coal is coming

back, even if it's an obvious lie. Even if you tried to do something for them, they wouldn't let you.

[oasis]

28. Solar panels and other environmentally friendly industry jobs would be

flourishing in the good ol' USA right now if Hillary was president. So it didn't help that coal miners backed the wrong horse.

[LSFL]

29. They need to move

I deliver to many mountain towns in eastern Ky. 40 miles of bad road to get to a dead town where dollar stores, walmart and fast-food are the major employers.
I ask one customer (whose shop is surrounded but 9 vacant buildings) why he stayed.
He said he was waiting for the mines to come back.
I told him that I would wait somewhere else.
He did encourage his kids to migrate though.

[lunasun]

33. Guide them to reality if you know any. Help them see the light to move on before it goes dark

What typewriter repair, telephone operators , and fuller brush men etc. had to do.


?quality=85&w=737
https://m.

I forgot about the old cash registers .......

I met someone during the recession 2009 maybe and they wanted a job I asked what they did they told me for years they were doing 10 key punch or something ..whatever it was not current
I suggested learning computers or customer service since they said they need to sit . I don't want to was the answer and what could I say when they said they were thinking of looking in to maybe doing some kind of paper filing work instead?

[RKP5637]

60. Thanks for posting this, was interesting and fun. I sent it to someone who still loves their IBM

Selectric, amazing machine.

[lunasun]

86. I saw one in a Chicago doctor's office maybe last year ....the clerks were still using it !

I don't know for what exactly, but while I was waiting to meet the doctor I heard them use it

[Xolodno]

34. Equivalent to the saying in a book.. "who moved my cheese"

The miners don't want to accept, their jobs are going the way of blacksmiths making horse shoes. It's over. They don't want to change jobs because "change" scares them. They want the Union jobs, pay, benefits, etc. that served them well for a hundred years...despite voting against the Union in the past 40 years.

So, they will go like the tenant farmer in the 30's. But unlike them, had a chance to change/advance the economy locally, even though less than what they were making, still had a good decent chance at making a living...but rejected it and doomed themselves to even worse poverty and forced to move where there is work.

They had government options if they voted Dem...instead they chose to fuck themselves. Not much you can do. They will still listen to RW media and blame everyone else, rather themselves.

[lunasun]

36. Rec who moved my cheese book++

[DBoon]

35. publicly supported regional development corporation

Infusion of public resource to develop new industries that will employ these hard working folks and leverage the natural advantages of the region.

This used to be a hallmark of progressives, coming up with these sort of solutions.

We should never expect the so-called free market to enhance human welfare by itself.

[bettyellen]

83. That was part of the plan HRC had, not sure why this is not known....

[Garrett78]

37. Infrastructure, public transportation, alternative energy. Many jobs to be created.

Developments we should already be heavily invested in, of course.

[Lee-Lee]

40. The answer lies in expanding the influence of unions

People cling to coal jobs because of one reason- they pay well and are the only job they qualify for that pays well.

And given the cost of living in most coal areas that pay is even better for what it brings.

The answer is to push the expansion of unions in all other kinds of walk-in jobs where you don’t need any special training so that those jobs pay just as well as coal jobs.

When they can easily go and get a job driving a truck, making tires, sweeping floors or anything else that pays pretty comparable to what they make now suddenly you don’t have a problem any more.

Those coal jobs pay well because of how much influence organized labor has in the industry, even the non-union jobs have to adjust pay scales up to get workers when they compete for them with union mines and to keep the risk of a union being voted in lower.

So the answer is simple- repeat for all other jobs what made coal jobs so attractand pay so well. Do that and the problem is solved.

[Kirk Lover]

41. When coal miners want to do for self....then we can talk about helping them. nt

[Orsino]

42. Same thing that should be done for all adults: guaranteed basic income.

When there aren't enough jobs to go around, that doesn't excuse anyone's being allowed to go hungry, unsheltered or otherwise unable to participate fully in our alleged civilization.

[KG]

43. thoughts and prayers

[SweetieD]

44. Why are coal miners owed anything special? Lots of jobs become obsolete.

Entire communities become obsolete too. You either adapt or die.

[IronLionZion]

46. Vote for Trump and blame immigrants

Factories have gone quiet and now we call it the rust belt. Your ancestors moved to coal country, why can't you move? Your ancestors did something before they learned coal mining, why can't you learn a new field? None of my ancestors could have even conceived of the type of jobs we have now especially in technology.

I've moved all across America and changed fields many times with training and experience. Appalachian-Americans can't handle the racial discrimination I've been through in my career and lifetime. It's time to learn to adapt. Get some books for free from the public library before they close those too. See what's offered at the local community college. Look at certification programs and apprenticeships in skilled trades like plumbing, electrical, welding, etc.

Every time someone comes online to complain about immigrants stealing jobs is time that could be spent on job applications or training.

The world is changing, try to keep up. Help others keep up. But don't expect people like to Trump to subsidize dying industries when the free market is ramping up fracking/shale to get cheaper natural gas. You must know it's coming with the higher oil prices.

[IronLionZion]

47. 50,000 coal miners in the US vs 4.3 million retail workers

Coal miners are just a rounding estimate compared to the retail store apocalypse wiping out people of all backgrounds in all neighborhoods across America

But for some reason America coddles coal miners while telling millions of retail workers to "suck it up buttercup" "work harder" "get a new job" "blame Amazon/millennials/liberals/immigrants/liberals/" "You don't deserve health insurance" and so on.

Politicians are lying to those workers. Coal is not coming back anywhere near how it used to be.

[Blue_Tires]

56. Retail workers are much more culturally/geographically diverse

so the politics of fear, hate and demonization of the "other" don't work quite as well...

[Blue_Tires]

55. Obama set up a job transition program for low-cost job training

but since it's the brainchild of EVUL OBAMA and since their God Donnie promised Big Coal would never ever ever go away, only a small number of people actually use it

[randr]

59. Mine owners knew what would happen 40 years ago

The Clean Air Act, in Bush the elders era, gave fossil burners 40 years to clean up their act.
They chose to spend millions creating fake reports to convince Americans that global warming is a myth instead of investing in improvements.
They craftly moved their investments into fracking and other technologies that ultimately pushed coal aside.
Rather than be honest with their work force and attempt to train them for jobs in emerging energy fields they took huge bonuses and are to this day fighting to gut retirement funds and medical benefits.
Coal miners were conned by the very people they support. It only follows that when they destroyed the pride and comradery of the once powerful unions it was easy to get them to lick the hand that feed them.

[Blue_true]

61. They will need startup funding, but I believe that they can take advantage

of their natural resources. The region produces some natural (as in wild) and flavorful berries of every sort. The natural landscape is stunningly beautiful. They have several decent universities. They have some of the best oldline craftspeople in the country.

Build on what they have and add some other capabilities:

Make the region the top berry producing region in America. Make value added berry products like jellies, jams and berry sauces, give them names that are trademarked.

Build tourist mecas for people that want a piece of the country life for a few days, but would rather not rough it or make breakfast, lunch or dinner for themselves. The beautiful scenery can be big for canoeing and horseback riding, with people returning to comfortable places for a steam bath and massage. Invite in a venture capital conference and professional association conferences to be held every year. Have big music festivals with new, up and coming and popular musicians during the summer and fall. Operate a safe open air tourist train during the late spring, summer and early fall that run through the valleys and over the glens of the region, have planned stops for night stays and dining. They can take a cue from Asheville North Carolina.

There are a number of good universities throughout the area. Build on the science, engineering and medical research that is being done in those places to spin off materials, medical products (apparatus, medicines, hitech medical dressings that aids healing after surgery, burns, ect). Establish and build up medical centers of excellence that treat local people and people that travel to the centers for specialized care.

Set up low rent shops so their craft people can build unique wood, stone and ceramic crafts. Provide marketing expertise via the marketing departments of universities from the area. Use state funds to promote local crafts nationwide and worldwide. Hell, they can convert unused large buildings, there are likely many around.

Some of the stuff will give people good salaries, others will provide jobs that pay wages that are livable for that area of the country. One thing that they need to be careful about is to insure that housing stocks remain adequate if the region starts to take off, don't create a situation like has developed in Silicon Valley with housing and even in parts of North Carolina.

[Horse with no Name]

67. I'm more worried about retail workers.

There are many more of them losing their jobs every day.
All of the politicians are constantly wringing their hands about the coal miners...but, they have been offered retraining which they don’t want.
At this point, they can worry about themselves.

[Atticus]

70. Thoughts and prayers. nt

[llmart]

71. I prefer to do nothing.

They've known for years that coal mines were going to be obsolete soon and yet they keep voting for the likes of Turtle face, Mitch and as others have said, bought the b.s. that Trump dished out.

Growing up lots of families lived in houses that were heated with coal. Do you know anyone today who heats their house with coal? Would these miners replace their furnaces with coal furnaces in order to keep their jobs? This is just another version of the same people who cry that they want to bring back the 50's like that's going to happen. You can sit around and cry in your beer about how the world is treating you badly or you can do what the scumbag Republicans say and pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

Coal companies have done massive destruction to some amazingly beautiful mountains, so I'll be cheering when they all go out of business. As others have said, a new sort of CCC to save our environment would be a great way to put people to work, but Congress is too busy throwing money at the military.

[X_Digger]

74. I grew up in coal country. Buchanan County, Va.

Geographically isolated, no flat land for development- everything is carved out of the mountainside or in the flood plain at the bottom of a creek. Even if you made it the top tourist destination in the country, there's no land to build hotels and shops to service the tourists.

Let me show you- this is a google maps satellite image of the elementary school I attended. It's literally on the flood plain where the main creek bends.



Now let me zoom out a bit..



No flat land. What, are you going to level a mountain?

Let me zoom out some more.



The whole county is like this. Scratch that- the whole corner of this state is like this.

This isn't gently rolling hills, either. Growing up, most days I saw about 80 degrees of sky. 50 degree mountain slopes on both sides.

The main road out of town is four lanes- it was a huge undertaking to even make it that wide. It will take massive infrastructure spending to make the area accessible to industry or tourism, much less economically feasible.

I wish I had answers. I really, truly do.

I hope this helps some understand the true scope of the problem.

[The_Casual_Observer]

78. Sitting on their asses and waiting for trump or anyone else

To save the day is a big mistake. Those areas are a great source of untapped people power. Marketed and managed correctly locally could work.

[brush]

85. Have them vote for Dems and new energy job training like Hillary proposed.

They had their chance once. Tell them not to blow it again.