As the coal industry shrinks, miners deserve a just transition – here’s what it should include
Murray Energy, one of the biggest private U.S. coal companies, has become the fifth coal company to file for bankruptcy in 2019. Union leaders and many elected officials worry that in addition to the 7,000 miners on Murray’s payroll, this step could threaten the solvency of the United Mine Workers of America pension fund, which supports over 100,000 retired miners and fully vested workers.
Read moreGovernment of Canada supports a just and fair coal energy transition for Alberta
New funding supports workers and communities in Alberta
September 3, 2019 – Edmonton, Alberta – Western Economic Diversification Canada
Read moreCoal left Appalachia devastated. Now it’s doing the same to Wyoming.
Vulture capitalists are sucking value from a dying industry.
Wyoming is facing a potential crisis. Coal mines have shut down, hundreds of people are out of work, unemployment offices are overwhelmed, and there appears to be worse to come.
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Read moreChile to close eight coal-fired stations by 2024
Chile announced Tuesday it would close eight coal-fired power stations over the next five years as part of a plan to switch entirely to renewable energy by 2040.
The closures, announced by Chile's conservative President Sebastian Pinera, account for 20 percent of the country's energy capacity, or 23,000 megawatts.
Read moreNew Zealand plans a just transition to a low emissions economy
The New Zealand Government has established a Just Transitions Unit to help share and coordinate the work of transitioning New Zealand to a low emissions economy. Read more
We can't ignore these coal miners warning
The coal companies told us they're going to be there forever - but we all know the end of coal is coming. We have to get in front of it!
Coal Communities Struggle to Diversify - learning from Shanxi and Wyoming
As domestic and international demand for coal drops, Wyoming coal companies are cutting employee benefits or laying off workers. In 2015, Wyoming experienced the highest U.S. unemployment spike. In the following year, approximately 500 coal miners were laid off in one day. With many coal communities facing financial collapse, Wyoming industries, governments, and workers are searching at home and abroad for models for diversifying their local economy.
In coal-dependent communities in Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, where almost half of all coal mines were “suspended or partially suspended,” the energy transition has been particularly difficult for older workers. Facing layoffs, these workers seek the same solution as miners in Wyoming: a just transition. Read more
Canada will transition from thermal coal production and use by 2030
The Just Transition Task Force for Canadian Coal Power Workers and Communities looks at how to make it a just transition.
See what they’ve learnt: http://ow.ly/6d4B30o0Tn2
The local heroes battling to steady Collie’s wobbles as town transitions to new future
Collie has a message for the doomsayers — it isn’t dying.
The South West town synonymous with coal is trying to chart a future that places less reliance on the increasingly contentious fuel source that has sustained it for more than 100 years.
Read moreVoices of the Valley shares its plans for Latrobe Valley's future
It could be suggested that a grassroots plan for a post-coal future was heard in the corridors of State Government. The announcement of a $40 million 'Hi-Tech' precinct in Morwell to diversify the region's economy into new industries is similar to a plan devised by advocacy group, Voices of the Valley.