Post by Logan on Mar 18, 2016 17:51:04 GMT -6
While coalfield political leaders and industry officials spent much of the week attacking Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s remarks about the continuing decline in coal jobs, the Obama administration on Thursday announced the next round of funding in an aid package meant to help mining communities that are struggling through transitions in the nation’s energy economy.
Officials from the White House, the Appalachian Regional Commission and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration said the $65.8 million in money is available through grants to help develop strategies for “economic growth and worker advancement” for communities that have historically relied on the coal industry for their economic stability.
The funding is part of what the administration calls its Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization, or POWER initiative.
Administration officials say their goal is to help communities hit hard as coal has declined because of cheap natural gas prices, plummeting global demand for steelmaking coal, competition from other mining basins and new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules.
See more at: www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20160317/focus-on-clinton-comments-obscures-wv-coalfield-challenges
Officials from the White House, the Appalachian Regional Commission and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration said the $65.8 million in money is available through grants to help develop strategies for “economic growth and worker advancement” for communities that have historically relied on the coal industry for their economic stability.
The funding is part of what the administration calls its Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization, or POWER initiative.
Administration officials say their goal is to help communities hit hard as coal has declined because of cheap natural gas prices, plummeting global demand for steelmaking coal, competition from other mining basins and new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules.
See more at: www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20160317/focus-on-clinton-comments-obscures-wv-coalfield-challenges