What is a Just Transition?
A Just Transition is based in community-led solutions that ensure the well-being of workers, communities, and our environment. Together, we can build a new economy that brings Homegrown Prosperity to all of Western Colorado.
Reclamation Jobs in Coal Country
As coal markets have crashed across the globe, coal companies have gone bankrupt while clean energy becomes a cost-competitive energy source. This has created a sudden and dramatic shift for some rural communities long dependent on resource extraction, leaving workers without paychecks and disturbed lands without a plan for cleanup. Our Alliance knows there is no one solution for our rural communities. We also know that restoring our rural lands and environment can be an economic engine. To that end, our Alliance is working with organizations across the region to promote job creation potential through reclaiming Colorado’s coal mines and power plants. This creates jobs for miners in real-time, using skills folks already have, and healing our landscape.
RECLAIM Act & Black Lung Excise Tax
We must also work to make sure that the benefits promised to coal miners are kept as companies go bankrupt. In 2018, Congress let the Black Lung Excise Tax expire, leaving thousands of miners suffering from a severe respiratory illness caused by coal dust without funding for their health care costs. Our Alliance is working with organized labor and national partners to ensure that any Just Transition legislative package includes reinstating the excise tax on coal to ensure workers get the health care they deserve.
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Emily Hornback
Executive Director
Contact for more information or to get involved.