July 17, 2024
About the conference:
Reductions in coal production and consumption occurring unevenly around the world are driving a wide variety of social, economic, political, and environmental impacts. There is an urgent need to coordinate academic and policy work focused on coal transitions and foster mutual understanding and sharing of insights from diverse transition experiences.
This in-person conference assembled Keynotes, Plenaries, Organized Sessions, and Individual Paper Presentations from social science and humanities scholars, regulators, practitioners, and students from around the world whose work deals with the problem of coal transitions. There was participation from sociologists, geographers, political scientists, economists, planners, anthropologists, practitioners, grants makers, regulatory officials, engineers, scholars of the arts and humanities, and other interested parties whose work addresses the processes and impacts of coal transitions on communities, regions, and economies.
Panel: Federal Policy & Community and Labor Engagement in Appalachia’s Coal Transition
Panelists:
- Dan Taylor, Southeast Regional Field Organizer, Blue Green Alliance
- Dana Kuhnline, Senior Program Director, Reimagine Appalachia
- Natalia Rudiak, Director of Special Projects, Reimagine Appalachia
- Chelsea Barnes, Director of Government Affairs and Strategy. Appalachian Voices
- Eric Dixon, Senior Researcher, Ohio River Valley Institute
Hosted By:
- Gabe Schwartzman, Assistant Professor (Department of Geography and Sustainability, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, USA)
- Lindsay Shade, Assistant Professor, (University of Tennessee – Knoxville, USA)
- Karen Ringall, Associate Professor (Community and Leadership Development, University of Kentucky, USA
PANEL DESCRIPTION:
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Both pieces of legislation allocated levels of federal funding for infrastructure and a clean energy transition never seen in United States history. Totaling in the hundreds of billions of dollars, a significant portion of these funds have been earmarked to be invested in so-called ‘energy communities,’ making any community that has seen a coal mine or powerplant facility close eligible for a diversity of investments.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Both pieces of legislation allocated levels of federal funding for infrastructure and a clean energy transition never seen in United States history. Totaling in the hundreds of billions of dollars, a significant portion of these funds have been earmarked to be invested in so-called ‘energy communities,’ making any community that has seen a coal mine or powerplant facility close eligible for a diversity of investments.
Furthermore, policy frameworks designed by the Biden Administration seek to use these investments to uphold high labor standards and to distribute significant benefits to communities near federally funded projects. Appalachia has already seen hundreds of millions of dollars invested in the region.
Yet, precisely how these investments will shape the future of Appalachian coal country remains an open question.
Community organizers and policy advocates have been working to ensure that federal investments support historically marginalized communities and an increase in union density in Appalachia. In this panel, policy analysts, advocates and organizers will discuss the current state of federal investments and coal transition in Appalachia. Panelists will detail strategies to ensure investments generate both benefits for communities and an increase in union density.
About the Keynote Speakers:
Brian J. Anderson is the Executive Director of The U.S. Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization, leading the Biden Administration effort to ensure the shift to a clean energy economy creates good-paying union jobs, spurs economic revitalization, remediates environmental degradation, and supports energy workers in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities.
Heidi Binko is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Just Transition Fund, a U.S. based philanthropic organization devoted to promoting economic diversification, expanding workforce development and improving infrastructure in mining and power plant communities in major coal-affected areas of the United States by combining grantmaking, technical assistance, and field-building strategies to magnify the success of locally led economic initiatives.