Charleston Gazette – Coalfield communities struggling with mounting job losses as the nation’s energy markets restructure would receive hundreds of millions of dollars in new money to help create jobs and plan economic diversification programs, under the new budget proposed Monday by President Obama. Read
The administration is proposing $1 billion in new spending over the next five years to clean up abandoned strip mines and $2 million in tax credits aimed at spurring innovation on technology to capture carbon pollution from power plants. Obama’s proposal also includes $3.9 billion over 10 years to protect health and retirement benefits for retired coal miners, officials said.
Obama is also asking the Republican-controlled Congress to provide $56 million in new money for existing programs at the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Department of Labor and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help laid-off workers and to assist coalfield communities with economic development.
