I was born and raised in the heart of the north-central West Virginia coalfields. My parents still live in my childhood home, two miles from the entrance of the former Consol No. 9 coal mine — infamous for the 1968 explosion that took the lives of 78 miners.
Fifty-two years removed from this historic tragedy, the writing is on the wall for the industry that — with all of its problems — once nourished my community. Coal is declining, and rapidly. Market forces and regulation, partially driven by the accelerating climate crisis, are moving the world toward cleaner energy sources and technologies that are safer to acquire.
In scores of communities like mine, this is causing West Virginians to experience a wrenching economic and social transition. And the people I know are not in denial — they understand, on a personal level, that this transition is real and inescapable.
What they want to know is: How can West Virginians help create a fair transition that moves us forward, while respecting the sacrifices that communities like mine have made to build America?
Because this issue hits so close to home, my organization — the West Virginia Center on Climate Change — will be co-sponsoring a free public program titled “Leaving No One Behind: Ensuring a Fair Transition for Workers and Communities” in Charleston — on Wednesday Feb. 5, in Room 202 of the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center, from 7-9 p.m.
In this program, experts will examine historical, ongoing and future opportunities to help West Virginia workers, families, businesses and communities cope with this transition and build a sustainable future.
Adele Morris, Ph.D., senior fellow and policy director for climate and energy economics at the Brookings Institution, will deliver the keynote address. Morris is a leading national expert on carbon pricing policies and the use of resulting revenue to fund a fair transition for displaced energy workers.
Also presenting will be Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia; Ann M. Eisenberg, assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina; Ted Boettner, co-founder and executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy; and Jim Probst, West Virginia state coordinator for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
This event is co-sponsored by the West Virginia University College of Law’s Center for Energy and Sustainable Development, directed by James M. Van Nostrand, and the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy.
We can no longer hide from the future, but we can still fight to secure a better one for ourselves and our neighbors. I hope you will join us at this program. There is no charge for admission, but to assure a seat please RSVP at https://wvclimate.org.
Logan Thorne is a climate change education consultant for Friends of Blackwater
