Fight coal. Support coal miners

[NeoGreen]

https://www.treehugger.com/fossil-fuels/fight-coal-support-coal-miners.html



https://www.fromtheashesfilm.com/

Fight coal. Support coal miners
Sami Grover (@samigrover)
Energy / Fossil Fuels July 18, 2017

Some time ago, I wrote a post asking whether environmentalists had failed West Virginia—taking on the mighty coal industry, but failing to support the communities whose livelihoods were once so dependent on the black stuff.

A new National Geographic documentary called From the Ashes delves into just this question, charting not only the ongoing decline of the coal industry and the activists and market forces that are helping make that happen, but also the impact on communities that have so far been left behind.

It's important to note, however, that coal companies have long-since ceased being the lifeblood of regional economies that so many politicians pretend they are. Between mechanization and mountaintop removal, the number of coal mining jobs was plummeting even when we all expected coal to keep growing for decades.

Still, it would behoove the environmental movement to work with coal communities to find alternatives, and that's exactly what the makers of From the Ashes are doing. In fact, they've launched a fundraising campaign to support the transition from coal, with funds going to Coalfield Development Corporation, the Just Transition Fund, and the Western Organization of Resource Councils. Bloomberg Philanthropies, which helped fund From the Ashes, will even match a portion of your donation and cover all administrative costs. From solar power and sustainable agriculture to property renovation and landscape renewal, there are so many ways that the resourceful communities which once mined coal are getting to work healing the scars left in its wake.

[NickB79]

1. Out of work coal miners would need extensive re-training to do these new jobs

And this requires federal funding to get them back to school, taking college courses to get the skills needed to do 21st century jobs. Good luck getting money from the Trump administration and his fellow GOP'ers.

And this also requires from the miners a self-motivation to take said classes, AND enough intellect to actually learn the material. Having grown up in a rural area, I have seen first-hand how there has been a generations-long brain drain, where the intelligent students graduate, go to college, and never look back. The ones left behind to sustain the rural communities are those who either have no drive to attend college, or lack the intelligence to get good grades.

[hunter]

2. I feel the same about the commercial fishing industry.

Or the automobile industry.

Dragging them kicking and screaming into some kind of sustainable 21st century ain't gonna be easy,