Can West Virginia be green when Trump supports coal mining?

Startups launch green energy and restoration projects in the former coal country

Trump wants to revive the coal industry in order to fuel AI and data centers

West Virginia was once the nation's largest coal producer

By Sam Kimball

He is a member of Economic Development Greater East, an initiative that promotes projects in a region devastated by the decline in coal production.

He said he was a fourth-generation coal miner who had moved from one mining job to another in the past.

He met EDGE's founder Jason Tart when he returned to Berwind and with their support, he opened a chicken business.

He said that his business could "fill a void right here in the county with food from these chickens."

Startups and non-profits, like EDGE, have taken on projects aimed at clean energy and land reclamation.

But Donald Trump wants the coal industry to be revived, if only to supply fuel for artificial intelligence systems that are energy hungry and data centers.

The pro-coal position of the administration puts West Virginia's boosters in a tight spot, as they try to determine if fossil fuel extraction will coexist with, compete with, or conflict against efforts to turn our economy green.

According to the founder of EDGE coexistence is possible.

The companies will mine coal .... Why not work with them to ensure that this is done correctly? Tart stated.

Agriculture can help restore anything damaged.

In April, Trump issued an Executive Order to ease regulations and revive coal despite the documented environmental and health tolls.

The coal mining and processing process can make water toxic and the air contaminated with coal dust lethal. This leads to cancer and black lung disease.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by 2024, one-third of long-serving miners living in central Appalachia (including West Virginia) will have black lung disease. This causes extreme fatigue, coughing and shortness of breathe, as well as death.

After funding for NIOSH was cut, West Virginia miners were denied access to mobile screening units that could test for black lung disease. "UNLIKELY ALLIES"

The nonprofit Coalfield Development, which is funded by $300 million in federal and private grants, most of them dating back to the former administration of President Joe Biden's presidency and the former administrations before that, trains ex-miners in solar installation and entrepreneurship. It also repurposes an abandoned mine into solar power.

It is based in Huntington, West Virginia. The company is also a partner of a rural solar project that was funded by the federal government, but whose grant is now at risk.

The Trump administration reversed the 2022 legislation that was passed by Biden, which directed billions of dollar towards clean energy subsidies.

Jacob Hannah, CEO of Coalfield Development, said that the company is working with coal companies to take over abandoned mines and free them from cleaning costs.

He said: "I will choose a strategic approach that is open to unlikely allies."

In 1940, West Virginia had more than 130,000 coal miners. In 2023, the number of miners was less than 11,000

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in Huntington, a once bustling coal port on the Ohio River's banks, more than one quarter of the residents live in poverty.

Hannah said that his organization trains workers, installs solar power systems and helps reclaim the land by planting lavender cash crops and using free range chickens with their pecking-and-scratching habits.

He added that the organization also provides training and grants for local businesses with a community focus, such as Solar Holler, which manufactures solar panels.

Solar Holler installs panels throughout the state including at 18 public schools in Wayne County. The goal is to save millions with federal tax incentives on solar energy, according to him.

The Trump administration has reduced the amount of clean energy tax credits created by Biden.

Demand for coal worldwide

West Virginia's transition to clean energy could be threatened by a coal revival.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey, the governor of New York, announced in September an energy plan to increase coal, natural-gas and nuclear power to 50 gigawatts by 2050. The current amount is 15 GW.

Matthew Mackowiak is the director of government relations at Core Natural Resources in Pennsylvania, a coal producer.

According to the International Energy Agency, the United States coal consumption will grow by 10% during the first half 2025.

The growth of data centers and AI related energy is likely to lead to further increases. Mackowiak stated that the coal industry is still necessary, and it continues to create well-paying and stable jobs in West Virginia.

Tom Seng is an assistant professor of Texas Christian University’s Neeley Business School, who specializes on fossil fuel energy.

SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION

Sean Hornbuckle said that the coal industry helps to shape public opinion, making them believe that a revival in mining will solve West Virginia's problems.

They brainwash people. He said that they play on people's insecurities .... to justify politicians investing resources into an industry that is dying.

He cited initiatives such as the Coal Education Development and Resource Program of the state, which develops coal-educational materials and curriculums for schools.

Junior Walk, of Coal River Mountain Watch, an anti-coal watchdog group, agreed that coal has a powerful hold on West Virginians' hearts and minds.

Walk stated that the coal industry used its immense wealth to control the narrative surrounding coal mining in this area over the last 130 years.

(source: Reuters)