July 23rd, 2024
For the past century, Appalachia has powered the economic prosperity of this nation. Yet many Appalachian communities have been left behind, our workforce and lands exploited by absentee corporations in extractive industries.
Employee in a machine shop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, working on a cylinder grinding machine. Sourced from the Library of Congress.
Few Appalachians have received the full benefit of the region’s industrial prosperity
Pittsburgh built America with coal from West Virginia and Kentucky to make the steel for railroads, skyscrapers, and the machinery that won wars. Though many of the Appalachian coal mines and most of the steel mills that produced this prowess have fallen to changing times, the legacy of the captains of industry stands – the Carnegie Libraries, Phipps Conservatory, the Frick Museum, and many more. These contributions from conscience, with names blazoned to commemorate their generosity, were bestowed as community benefits, even in times when the workers in the mills were being paid a pittance and labored under horrendous working conditions.
[2] Over the years, it became customary for corporations to use tax write-offs, often with naming rights attached, to give civic contributions. There is no question that Pittsburgh and many communities in Appalachia benefitted from the largesse of corporations and industries even today. But, when the working people in communities share their stories and thoughts on this touted generosity, a different view emerges. Millions of dollars in tax money flow each year to projects in private corporations. Taxpayers pay about $20 billion dollars every year to the fossil fuel industry in direct subsidies, with an additional $646 billion in unpriced externalities as indirect subsidies.
What is the cost of failing to include communities?
When federal dollars are used for projects and extractive development in most communities, the profits go to the corporation, and they walk away leaving behind mine drainage, water contamination, damaged lands and watersheds and often, people made ill from working in the mines. These become the burden of the communities, the taxpayers, to clean up the mess. Too often, once the companies move on, there are insufficient resources to make remediation and repair the land or heal the people. ReImagine Appalachia held 45 listening sessions over 18 months in four states with over 1,000 people telling their stories and sharing their ideas.
People felt strongly about companies that took taxpayers money from federal programs and left nothing behind but misery and damaged lands. People felt there should be “strings attached” to federal dollars that go to corporations. There should be true Community Benefit Plans, informed by the stakeholders in the communities where projects are located, not dreamed up in the corporate board room and tossed out as a pittance. Not that people do not welcome a new library or soccer field, but rather recognizing that what people really want and need might be affordable housing, better transit for workers, child care facilities and programs, and upgrades to the energy and communication system.
Ways that we can ensure that each community benefits.
ReImagine Appalachia developed an issue paper on Community Benefit Agreements setting forth the prospect that in the Inflation Reduction Act and as part of the EJ-40 initiative, grant recipients would need to allocate a specific portion of grants funds directly to Community Benefits, and the plans must be informed by the stakeholders in the community where the project is located. Appalachian climate infrastructure investments must be designed to maximize their benefits to Appalachia’s communities – with federal policies in place that enable community input and accountability on how the money is spent; ensure jobs created come with good wages, health care, and retirement benefits; coal industry workers are prioritized for new opportunities WITHIN the region; career pathways are paved for women, Black, Indigenous, and other workers of color into good union jobs; and paid on-the-job training opportunities are provided. To accomplish these ends, and build local wealth, federal dollars must come with both community and labor standards.
This provision was incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act and has had a transformative effect on the process of developing federally funded projects. There is a new dialogue process where companies and communities sit together and assess their needs and possibilities. There are partnerships for workforce development, even expanded STEAM education, and mechanisms for workers to develop equity in the companies to build wealth and provide a basis for home ownership. This small piece of policy has a transformative effect on disinvested communities. And it gives people hope. As one of the community members said at the end of a community benefits planning session: “We have created a new vision for our future. Now we must speak it into Existence.”
About
This article’s co-author, Patricia M. DeMarco Ph, D believes: “…we already have the solutions for sustainability in hand. No “silver bullet” technology is necessary. We just need the moral fortitude to take action.” Learn more about living in harmony with nature by following this link to her website.
Get involved with community benefits meetings
For those of you who would like to learn more about Community Benefits, ReImagine Appalachia currently hosts virtual Appalachian Community Benefit Network Monthly Check-ins. ReImagine Appalachia also has a continuously updated CBA materials bank, highlighting case studies, skills, and community-based tools. To view ReImagine Appalachia’s CBA materials page, click here.
Additionally, ReImagine Appalachia, along with an advisory committee with feedback from many groups across the region, planned and hosted a two-day virtual Community Benefits Summit in May of 2023. Hundreds joined virtually from across the region to discuss the critical need for Community Benefit Agreements and Policies (CBAs and CBPs) during federal infrastructure funding implementation. The Summit’s agenda spanned from an introductory CBA 101 to learning ways our communities can prepare for strong community and labor standards through community conversations. To learn more about the event, view the recordings, and access the resources and notes from the event, click here.
Citations
1. Amanda K. Woodrum, Kathleen Mulligan-Hansel, Stephen Herzenberg, Anna McLean. Maximizing Value: Ensuring Community Benefits. ReImagine Appalachia. March 9, 2022. Page 2. https://reimagineappalachia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Community-Benefits_Whitepaper_05-28-2021.pdf Accessed April 8, 2024.
2. Les Standiford. Meet You in Hell- Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership that Transformed America. Crown Publishers. New York. 2005. Pages 108-114.
3. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. “Who Pays the Price- The Real Cost of Fossil Fuels.” United States Senate Committee on the Budget. May 3, 2023. https://www.budget.senate.gov/chairman/newsroom/press/sen-whitehouse-on-fossil-fuel-subsidies-we-are-subsidizing-the-danger- Accessed April 8, 2024.
4. ReImagine Appalachia- the Blueprint. ReImagine Appalachia. March 2021. https://reimagineappalachia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ReImagineAppalachia_Blueprint_042021.pdf Accessed April 8, 2024.
5. Amanda K. Woodrum, Kathleen Mulligan-Hansel, Stephen Herzenberg, Anna McLean. Maximizing Value: Ensuring Community Benefits. ReImagine Appalachia. March 9, 2022. Page 3. https://reimagineappalachia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Community-Benefits_Whitepaper_05-28-2021. pdf Accessed April 8, 2024.