FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Virginia Alvino Young, 714-267-1623, [email protected]
APPALACHIA POISED TO BENEFIT FROM BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE DEAL
Ohio River Valley — The passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in Appalachian communities. Funding from this historic legislation will improve the region’s transit issues and help clean up abandoned mine lands and Superfund sites. It will address fires and floods caused by damage to the climate in Appalachian communities which are at particular risk.
“Appalachian communities struggle first-hand with the devastating impact of catastrophic weather events, aging infrastructure, failing electric grids, pollution left behind by absentee corporations, and declining tax bases,” said Dana Kuhnline, Campaign Manager for ReImagine Appalachia. “We know what we need and we’re ready to do the work.This investment will not only create a healthier environment, but it will provide good paying, union jobs for Appalachians to get to work building the future they deserve.”
However, the infrastructure bill is only part of the solution for the Appalachian region.
Passage of the Build Back Better Act is critical for Appalachia. Our communities need federal funding to create local ownership and shared prosperity. Among the programs it would support are a revitalized Civilian Conservation Corps, which would put people to work restoring wetlands, improving drinking water infrastructure. It would forge a fair recovery for all people, no matter their race or background, by drawing in returning citizens and other underserved populations while mitigating the effects of climate change.
We cannot afford to squander this opportunity to make our communities healthier, create a better future for our children, and put people to work in union jobs with benefits and wages high enough to support a family.
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The ReImagine Appalachia coalition was created through a broad recognition that the economy has not been working for most Appalachians. The coalition’s plans show concrete opportunities for progress where local ownership is prioritized, prosperity is shared, everyone is paid enough to support themselves and their family, future generations can put down roots, and all people have clean air to breathe and water to drink. For further information on economic plans around jobs, agriculture, manufacturing, and more, visit ReImagineAppalachia.org.