What the Democratic Party Has Wrong About Coal

Although I'm wary of labels in politics, there is one label I carry with great honor, I am a coal country Democrat.

In recognition of that label, let me tell you what the Democratic Party has gotten wrong about coal.

In my immediate community, I have been told by many people that the reason they are Republicans is because they believe Democrats are anti-coal. I will admit, some of that is earned. President Obama took executive action via the EPA which invariably hurt the coal industry. Furthermore, the Democratic Party's views on the climate make it difficult to position the party as "pro-coal". This narrative has continued to this day and has electoral consequences. In 2020, the nation's number 1 and number 2 coal-producing states, Wyoming and West Virginia respectively were also the two states that voted most overwhelmingly for former President Trump. This is likely unabashedly about coal for West Virginia, a state that voted for Clinton (twice), Dukakis, Carter (twice), Hubert Humphrey, and even Adlai Stevenson.

While it is the case that the Democratic Party's position on the climate puts it at odds with communities like mine, it doesn't have to be that way. Part of the problem for Democrats on coal is that they fail to understand it isn't about coal, it's about livelihood and community.

Consider this, the Biden administration promulgated a new rule for the EPA which will essentially end the thermal coal industry by 2032. The problem with this, as explained by the United Mine Workers of America, is that when these direct interventions take place, there is never a consideration as to what those who work in the mines will do. It is not enough to say "tough luck". The United States is virtually the only developed country that will put people out of work through intentional action without retraining those who will lose their jobs. In Poland, when they transitioned away from coal, the state retrained the miners or offered them a state-backed pension so the miners could retire. In Germany, where my family mined coal before coming to the United States, the German government compensated workers and retrained them for new jobs.

What will happen with this new regulation in the United States? The same thing that has been happening since 2007. The United States is currently in the position to take the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands either directly or indirectly reliant on coal, with no plan as to what will happen to individuals, families, or communities afterward.

What occurred in 2007? A corrupt deal between the Sierra Club and the natural gas industry litigated the closures of hundreds of coal plants, not in search of environmentalism, but of market share. They succeeded as well. In 2007, coal was 49% of our electricity mix, and natural gas was 22%. By 2023, coal was 16%, natural gas 43%. The consequence of this? It wasn't a cleaner environment. As demonstrated by numerous environmental studies, when accounting for methane leaks, natural gas has no positive environmental impact as compared to coal. Pennsylvania counties like Indiana, Armstrong, Cambria, and Washington saw massive increases in their poverty rates as a result of en masse job loss. Then those same communities saw an influx of legal dope called Oxycontin. Cameron County, a small county in my district, with a population of just under 4,500 people saw 3,408,680 pain pills enter the county from 2006 to 2019.

This isn't a new issue. For generations, coal communities have gotten the short end of the stick. That is why this campaign is so important. The Republican Party doesn't have the desire to remedy these problems, and the Democratic Party doesn't have the cultural competence to understand them. My position is not that coal needs to remain pre-eminent. My position is that when communities rely on a single industry to survive, you cannot pull it from them, the foods from their mouths, and pat them on the head and say, "It's okay we're helping the environment." There are real consequences when you treat people, families, and communities as disposable. We will concede coal, but we cannot concede putting bread on the table.

Our communities have kept the lights on for generations, suffering the mortal hell of living underground, is it so much to ask that we have jobs at the end of it? The anger I see isn't about a preference for coal, it is a rebellion against a country that has no problem thrusting my brethren into a Dollar General focused economy.

Democrats are doing important things for miners. Bob Casey, Joe Manchin, Sherrod Brown, Mark Warner, and Tim Kaine are fighting for enhancements to Black Lung Benefits, but our communities need more.

I won't ramble any further, I'll leave you this. Ezekiel 19:49-50 states, “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.”

I will not stand idly by while those who have benefited from the fruits of our labor ignore our region as it declines. I ask not that the working men and women of the coal region get put on a pedestal. I ask that we enjoy equal footing in an economy that has been imbalanced for too long.

-Zach Womer, proud coal country Democrat.