WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s budget includes protections for 100,000 mine workers whose pension plans are underfunded, plus help for those whose health insurance claims have been denied because of bankruptcy protections for the bituminous coal industry.
The proposal increases transfers from the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to cover pensions and health care.
United Mine Workers of America supports the proposal, its president, Cecil E. Roberts, said Monday, noting that it provides a long-term fix without new appropriations.
“Through no fault of their own, retired miners now see the pensions and health care they earned in blood and tears threatened,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Obama also wants to spend $1 billion over five years to address contamination and reclaim abandoned mines. Funding also would come from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund.
His budget also would provide $2 billion in tax credits for new and retrofitted electric generation units with carbon-capture technologies that help meet new emissions standards.
Meanwhile, Mr. Obama is proposing a new program aimed at bolstering coal communities as the nation’s energy consumption shifts to become more heavily reliant on natural gas. It would provide retirement security for mine workers and accelerated cleanup of abandoned mines at a cost of $55 million over two years.
The White House dubbed the new program the POWER+ Plan, an acronym for Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization.
Its funding would help coal communities diversify their economies, create jobs in other industries and provide job training and re-employment services to dislocated workers, according to budget documents.
The Labor Department would have $20 million to distribute to states that recently experienced plant closures or mass layoffs in the coal industry. States could use it to provide subsidized employment, job training and other services to help the unemployed.
Meanwhile, $25 million would go to the Appalachian Regional Commission, which would use it to help transitioning coal communities access capital, enter new markets and address barriers related to adequate water, sewer and telecommunication infrastructure.
U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, said the proposals are an acknowledgement that the Environmental Protection Agency’s more stringent environmental regulations are causing real harm to the coal industry.
“The best solution to stop this widespread unemployment and poverty in coal communities is collaborative work on clean coal projects to help the thousands of miners, boilermakers and electricians who are now out of work,” Mr. Murphy said.
Instead, he said, the president is proposing government handouts that will do nothing to save jobs or revitalize coal communities.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., meanwhile, believes the budget calls for sensible investments that will help coal communities by ensuring workers are prepared to compete for high paying jobs, said his spokeswoman, Alex Miller.
First Published: February 3, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
