Despite the glee expressed by some in the Democratic Party, mining is not completely dead in the Appalachian coal fields. A new investment in mines in southern WV and along the WV/Va border will mean hundreds of new jobs for an area starving for employment.
Of course for many, this is grasping at any sort of life preserver while drowning. It may not all pan out. As its metallurgical coal (used in metal smelting) as opposed to steam coal (used in electricity generation); it represents a shift in market and becomes more sensitive to international market forces. There has been a glut in the worldwide steel so the people investing in this coal production must feel confident or have contracts at a good price/labor ratio.
Of course a Democratic politician with good contacts in WV and Va will be at the ribbon cutting and bragging about how their efforts brought the jobs to the area. And you can be sure the Governor, Senators, state legislature, county commission members will be there. I doubt the Democratic nominee will be there. If she had the guts, or interest, she should be there and get her ear filled. Maybe make her point or two. Maybe gain some grudging respect. But that would alienate her coastal donors who have written off a large portion of the eastern US.
As an aside-
Heard an interview with the author of “Grid” about US’s electric grid system. She said, paradoxically, that increased reliance on wind and solar could mean continued use of fossil fuels as the current Grid was designed for a constant level of electricity on it, and if a large area is under cloud, nighttime, or if wind dies…fossil boilers have to be fired up to replace that lost generation. A complete redesign and construction of the Grid and a practical method of storage is necessary to take full benefit of the environmental pluses of renewables.
Ridge
—-excerpt—-
Low prices for natural gas and new pollution regulations are turning many utilities off coal as their fuel of choice for generating electricity. U.S. coal-fired power capacity is down 15 percent since 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
This coal won’t be used for electricity but for steel manufacturing. Metallurgical coal prices are up lately due to a mix of international market factors. But Ramaco can make the mines work even at even fairly low prices, Atkins said.
Of course there is a market for steam coal as well; especially for well connected friends.
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-politics/20160828/aep-approved-unsolicited-deal-for-342m-worth-of-
coal-from-justice-company
I have no problems with mining. People need work and if happens to be in a mine, so be it.
But, just for clarification… do you feel coastal donors have written off a large portion of the eastern US primarily due to environmental concerns or other factors?
As an aside.. could one not make similar arguments for people who work on Wall Street or for large corporations that might be Pharma-related or part the health insurance industry?
I see some overlap here. How many people would worry about the millions of jobs lost where we to adopt single-payer healthcase?
Just food for thought.
I think they have written them off as they don’t feel those areas represent the perceived values, political and social, of “coastal” (used loosely) communities . Once again, why did Trump win 295 out of 311 counties in states from Western New York to North Ala and Mississippi? What is it about Trump and Clinton? Aside from stereotypes, why? As a politician, I would want to know and try to get some of them back.
These areas are seen, and felt , as political waste lands. Where people are just too ignorant to know what’s best for them. As a resident and native, I sometimes feel that way. But most of all, many don’t want to feel abandoned. Trump has offered some type of hope for the future, though his positions are fantasy but still, he is speaking to them directly. Clinton has not made a real effort. She doesn’t need them so why waste time and resources.
Abandoned.
Now some Federal resources are beginning to trickle in from Obama Admin; as the election nears. She certainly could be there giving interviews and trumpeting what she will do in the future, but she would have a lot of ground to make up. She could also beat the drum for Obama Care as it has made a REAL difference in the lives of folks in Appalachia. Your Uncle Fred can now get his operation.
It may be a lost cause for this election, but certainly ground work could be laid and good will generated.
I’ve been writing about this area, not that I think I can change the national conversation, but its important for politically aware people to get truthful “eyes on the ground” info for a geographic/political block. I would love to see more from other areas. We (Internet comment world) know more about what’s happening in DNC back rooms or Trump Tower than Caterpillar HQ in Peoria and all the tens of thousands it employs, their towns, relatives, and how they will vote. The oil patch? What about Texas? Its seems very close now, why?
Jobs, employment, hope for the future how each candidate addresses those issues is what will decide elections. How are those points addressed in the upper midWest? Southwest? Why is Georgia so close?
While Martin is great at the big picture and inside baseball about Congress, we have many posters here who live all around the country who know a great deal about their areas. And many small areas are what make up the big picture.
R
——excerpt———-
HUNTINGTON — Millions of dollars are being disbursed to groups in West Virginia and other coalfield communities throughout the country as part of President Barack Obama’s POWER initiative.
State and federal officials gathered in Huntington Wednesday to announce more than $38.8 million in funding for groups in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Alabama.
Groups in the Mountain State will receive around $16.4 million, or more than 40 percent of the federal money, which will help advance efforts in education, infrastructure improvements, business development, manufacturing expansions and workforce training.
The grants are part of the Obama administration’s ongoing push to disburse billions of dollars into regions of the country that are being disproportionately affected by the decline of the coal industry — the result of slumping foreign markets, low-priced natural gas, the higher cost of mining in Central Appalachia and federal regulations meant to reduce air pollutants. …..
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-business/20160824/federal-grants-from-power-plus-plan-announced-fo
r-wv
How people in Coal Country perceive “Coastal people” and what “Coastal people” actually think might be substantially at odds.
The conservative media have spent a lot of air time creating the notion that environmental sanity kills jobs. Coal regions are being economically effected because no one is thinking about or subsidizing alternatives to mining jobs.
The money that the Obama administration has distributed might be a part of a transition if it is well-planned and spent by state and local governments.
Any respite from metallurgical coal markets will be temporary because the fundamental difficulty is that long-time coal mining areas are running toward more expensive mining costs as they dig deeper or stip wider. The cheap, high quality, easy to get coal is long gone in the East.
Moreover, one of the factors that has reduce coal prices and demand is the continuing global recession caused by austerity economics. The very conservatives who are stoking the divisions between Appalachia and the “Coastal people” are those who have insured that demand for coal will not be driven by prosperity. And they did this by sabotaging the recovery from the Great Recession with concern over the debt and deficits.
I get that there is a fear over the uncertainty that economic transformation of these areas from their traditional industries will bring. And I get it that people in coal mining areas are not blind to the destruction of the environment that has been the cost of their jobs.
Here’s where a 50 state strategy could do some good even if these are really long-shot states: WV is Trump+21.5, KY is Trump +14.1; Tennessee is Trump +16.7; AL is Trump +18.5. She needs to have conversations in Coal Country about the first part of what she said, how she intends to do it, and how she will finance this transformation.
The full quote was:
Does she have a credible plan that can separate the votes of coal miners from reflexively supporting their bosses. Twenty years ago the Clintons could do that. Fifty years ago, households had portraits of JFK hanging on their walls. Has one clumsy remark aimed at shoring up support elsewhere irrevocably closed that former support? And if it has, has it also ruined the Democratic downticket in these states.
“WV is Trump+21.5, KY is Trump +14.1; Tennessee is Trump +16.7; AL is Trump +18.5” Makes me wonder about the IL breakdown because the long term Coal Depression is a big thing in downstate Illinois.
With HRC at around +10 in IL, does that breakdown to maybe Trump +20 downstate, Trump +5 in the Chicago suburbs, Clinton +90 in the city of Chicago?
I don’t think that Trump is +5 in the suburbs. The demographics of Chicago suburbs and the City of Chicago have changed over the past 20 years. And Trump attracts only certain white suburbanites.
But I think that metropolitan Chicago will dominate downstate even if downstate goes for Trump. There is some candidate-party dissonance on both sides that has not completely worked itself out.
It was a guess, but it’s not impossible that Trump is ahead in the suburbs. The South suburbs are represented by Peter Roskam, former aide to Henry Hyde and sometimes described as “to the right of Henry Hyde”. In the Western Suburban 8th district, Joe Walsh was maintaining a slim lead over Tammy Duckworth until the city of Elgin, newly attached (gerrymandered) onto the district came in and swamped him. I was a volunteer for CREDO’s “Take Down Joe Walsh” campaign and went to bed thinking we had lost and woke up to find that he was crushed.
Chicago always dominates. People say Illinois is blue, but the only blue areas are Chicago, Sangamon county, home of state government workers and contractors (think Fairfax county in Virginia) and East Saint Louis (extremely poor and black). Otherwise Illinois strongly resembles Virginia except Virginians venerate Lee and Illinoisans venerate Lincoln, both from the home team.
BTW, I’ve only seen one Presidential campaign sign this year. Yesterday, in the horse farm estate area of St. Charles IL , a HUGE yard sign for Trump. The yard sign was wider than my lot frontage. And as for claims that only uneducated poor whites support Trump, I quote from the link “The median income for a household in the city is $75,181, and the median income for a family is $94,704”
Better take Sangamon County out of the blue column and put it in the red one. In 2012 it went for Romney 53.6% and Obama 44.6%. Outside Springfield, the county is composed of farming communities. The city of Springfield is Republican too. The African-American population in Springfield is about 20%. Illinois will go for Clinton, but her vote total won’t be anything like what Obama received. All I’ve seen are Trump signs downstate and they are not restricted to working class neighborhoods either.
Maybe Sangamon (Springfield) only votes (D) in state elections. After all the (R) candidates for Governor always run on shrinking state employment and cutting public pensions, but Romney was not a direct threat to them.
This year how much the Old lady voter factor applies I don’t know. In one of my diaries, you will read about my encounter with an educated formerly well to do Old Lady that supports Trump (but said that Sanders was good too). Most dismissed her as racist (although she said nothing about race) and “privileged” (although she would dispute having her job shipped to Asia was a privilege).
Springfield/Sangamon County is a funny place. I think because of Lincoln it still votes Republican, but its legislators side with the Democrats on several issues because of all the government employees living there. For example, this spring Gov. Rauner tried to primary Republican state senator Sam McCann, who represents the area, but Rauner failed.
“McCann has voted for bills that would give state union workers the opportunity to have stalled contract negotiations with the state go to binding arbitration. Rauner vehemently opposed those bills, saying they would remove him from the bargaining table and potentially costs billions of dollars in salary and benefits that could be granted in arbitration.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents about 38,000 state workers, disputed the claim. Unions have backed McCann with hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, and a political action committee, Liberty Principles PAC, has helped Benton with independent expenditures that topped $3 million.”
http://www.sj-r.com/article/20160315/NEWS/160319713
If you want a damn economy, you have to pay the workers. They create it with their demand. Sheesh, why is that SO HARD to comprehend?
“There is some candidate-party dissonance on both sides that has not completely worked itself out. ” i.e. Mark Kirk. Polls show him maintaining a razor sharp lead, but Republican criticism of him is very harsh, harder than Dem criticism. I suppose it will all come down to city turnout. For Kirk, that is. Clinton has enough support among suburban women to assure victory no matter what happens downstate.
Big United Mine Workers Rally today at the Capitol for a Bill to protect the health and pension benefits of about 120,000 former coal miners and their families.
“The bill would ensure that retired miners receive hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits now at risk amid the industry’s steep decline, precipitated by competition from cheaper natural gas and tightening environment regulations. Without congressional intervention, some of the funds could run out of cash by next year, the union says.”
http://www.voanews.com/a/coal-miners-rally-bill-protect-health-pension-benefits/3499175.html
Naturally the Repubs are against the bill because they see it as a bail out. Of course, they were in favor of bailing out the big banks in 2008. Also, the United Mine Workers endorsed Alison Lundergan Grimes when she ran against Mitch McConnell in 2014.
Coal is one of the state’s primary economic resources, first discovered in the state in 1742. The industry employs 30,000 West Virginians directly, resulting in $2 billion in wages and a $3.5 billion economic impact.
In 2010, tourism generated an economic impact of $4.27 billion and 44,400 employment positions.
I realize the distribution is different, but VW HAS a diverse economy. Where are the worst pockets of poverty?
“The economy of West Virginia nominally would be the 62nd largest economy globally behind Iraq and ahead of Croatia according to 2009 World Bank projections,[3] and the 64th largest behind Iraq and ahead of Libya according to 2009 International Monetary Fund projections.[4] The state has a projected nominal GDP of $63.34 billion in 2009 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis report of November 2010, and a real GDP of $55.04 billion. The real GDP growth of the state in 2009 of .7% was the 7th best in the country.[5] West Virginia’s economy accelerated in 2014 with a growth rate of 5.1%, ranking third among the fastest growing states in the United States alongside Wyoming and just behind North Dakota and Texas.[6]” (wiki Economy of West Virginia)