A Fair Transition for Midwest Coal Counties
Don Barrett/Flickr
James Gignac,
lead Midwest energy analyst | May 4, 2021, 6:00 am EDT
Across the country, including here in the Midwest, we are transitioning away from coal as a fuel source. While this brings important emission reductions and new opportunities for clean energy development, we still don’t do a great job supporting communities and workers who directly affected by the transition away from coal.
A new report by UCS and the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) aims to address this need. Entitled
Additionally, the analysis identified 462 counties (out of a total of 3,142 counties or county-equivalents in the United States) that have a direct connection to coal—such as having coal mines or having a recently retired or still operating coal-fired power plant. The analysis then identified 10 risk criteria, also referred to as vulnerability criteria, to assess counties’ dependence on the coal industry and the severity of the economic fallout from the decline of the industry. These risk criteria include such things as loss of mining jobs, decline in coal production, coal plant closures, and overall unemployment and poverty rates in the county above the national averages.