A new report from Columbia University makes it clear that the coal industry isn’t just a threat to the climate, national health, and the safety of workers. It’s also a looming fiscal crisis that is both dooming local communities and set to topple the economies of whole states.
Not only does the income from miners and mining companies form the economic backbone of small communities in several regions, but for states that depend on commodity taxes on coal to balance the state’s books—and often to reduce or eliminate the need for state income taxes—the decline of coal is bringing on a different kind of crisis. Across the country, 26 counties, including some of the geographically largest in the nation, are considered “coal dependent,” with a third or more of their revenue coming from the mining industry. But the production of coal is down by a third in just the last decade and continues to decline. In the same period, the largest coal companies have all declared bankruptcy, escaping their responsibilities to fund some programs.
It will likely be another two decades before coal is completely eliminated as a source of electricity in the United States. But well before that period, it will be the source of economic disruption and failed communities from Appalachia to the Mountain West. What Columbia’s study shows is that the cities, counties, and states that depend on coal are united by something other than just their fossil-fuel past—they’re also all in utter denial about planning for their future.
Many of these localities are already feeling the economic pinch from the decline of coal. But they have not been able either to find alternative sources of revenue or to cut expenses to the point where the communities can continue to function without the funds brought in by mining.
Like states and countries elsewhere in the world that have depended on extraction industries, these American communities are locked into a cycle of declining revenue and tumbling credit. With the industry having passed its peak, they’re seeing fewer jobs, fewer opportunities, and falling real estate prices, the latter leading to a decrease in property taxes collected. At the same time, these communities are trying to maintain the infrastructure, schools, and other facilities built by an industry that used to be big.
For some areas, the revenue from coal has allowed a “lifestyle” that might be envied. Wyoming residents pay no state income tax, but enjoy public schools and public facilities that are among the best in the nation, with most of their state income provided by money from fossil fuels. Other areas are far less lucky. Many Midwest and Appalachian communities have been in decline for decades, and with coal ticking toward its end, they’re saddled with aging infrastructure, few sources of funds for its replacement, and mountains of debt.
Many of those communities have spent the last few decades trying to replace those decreasing revenues by issuing bonds, betting on a mining comeback. That comeback never arrived—but the bonds are coming due. The effects of these failing communities won’t be restricted to their counties or even their states. The report shows that the “lost economic activity and jobs will have ripple effects across the economy.” The costs will weigh on neighboring communities, and on both state and federal programs. They’ll also find their way into retirement plans and pension funds that include community bonds.
Coal communities are heading toward economic collapse on a wholesale level. Coal mining is ending, and it’s never coming back. But there is a way to reduce the impact of the crash: invest in these coal-dependent communities. If there is ever a federal carbon tax, direct its funds to these locations. But the communities can’t wait for that possibility. They need revenues, and they need them soon. They need federal programs that make them part of the green economy by turning them into centers for renewable power. They also need to be sure that the federal government will provide for the health of mine workers and the remediation of mining sites, even as the companies responsible fold.
Taking care of communities that are now dependent on fossil fuels is a critical part of the Green New Deal. Even if that legislation isn’t implemented in the next few years, these communities need our help. One way or another, we’re all going to pay the cost.
Personal note: I grew up in a small town in the “heart of the Western Kentucky coalfield,” where mining was not just a major employer but the economic engine of the area. The tallest buildings in the town were, and are, the headquarters of coal companies. But those buildings were erected in the 1930s by companies that are now long gone, and the mining industry in the area is a pale shadow of what it was.
My town was lucky enough to hold on and grow. But many communities have depended on mining for decades, and generations of workers have returned to the same shafts or pits. Some of these communities, especially in the West, only exist because of mining. They’re at risk of becoming modern-day ghost towns on a much larger, and more costly, scale than their Gold Rush predecessors.
The coal jobs were almost invariably the best-paying positions in the area, but that doesn’t mean that they paid well enough for workers to build up any real savings, or that the mines created wealth in communities through rising value of homes.
It’s easy to blame the miners for their own position. After all, they have continued to support an industry that’s clearly using them in every meaning of that word. Still … mining is a risky, dirty, difficult business. But it’s far from mindless work. No one is swinging a pickax underground for 12 hours a day, no matter what it says in songs. Miners are called on to be construction workers, engineers, skilled equipment operators, and problem solvers in an environment where a single mistake can be extremely costly. It’s for exactly that reason that those who work in the industry often feel bonded to their co-workers and even their company, in a way very like the passion those in military service feel toward others in their unit. Even the disdain that many seem to have toward their work is an element that bonds miners and mining communities.
So … yeah, it’s easy to blame the miners. But denying them help as the industry fails will be a lot more costly, for everyone, than creating programs to cushion the fall.