'Deeply demoralizing': how Trump derailed coal country's clean-energy revival
11 days ago
- #Political Impact
- #Appalachia
- #Clean Energy
- Jacob Hannah saw an opportunity to revitalize Appalachia with Biden's 2022 funding aimed at transitioning from coal to clean energy.
- Trump scrapped Biden's clean energy programs, calling them 'woke, anti-American liberal hoaxes,' causing economic damage and demoralization.
- Hannah's Coalfield Development trains workers in skills like solar installation, but federal grants have historically been short-lived and top-down.
- The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided the largest investment in Appalachia since the 1960s, but Trump's administration paused or terminated many grants.
- Coalfield Development led a coalition to access $900M of IRA funds, but projects stalled due to funding cuts and delays.
- Trump's policies deepened Appalachian fatalism, with many blaming Washington politics rather than Trump directly.
- Huntington, WV, was a key location for IRA investment but suffered from economic decline and opioid crises.
- Trump won big in West Virginia, securing 70% of the vote in 2024, the highest in state history.
- Solar Holler, a solar company, faces challenges due to Trump's tariffs and the end of tax incentives.
- Appalachian Voices (AV) lost a $500K EPA grant for flood mitigation in former coal communities, now part of a class-action lawsuit.
- Small towns like Pennington Gap and Dante lost critical funding for revitalization projects, worsening living conditions.
- Trump's cuts to Medicaid, food aid, and education will hurt his Appalachian supporters, while the region struggles to save resilience projects.