An editorial from The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — In 1940, a half a million people worked in the coal mining industry in the United States, and 130,000 of those workers were in West Virginia.
Even though mechanization and above-ground extraction had dramatically reduced the employment to about 30,000 West Virginians by the mid-’90s, the mining workforce has remained a big part of the Mountain State’s identity.
But the industry’s challenges, the changing energy landscape and regulatory climate have taken an even greater toll in recent years. West Virginia’s coal employment dropped to 14,000 in 2015, and more job losses have been reported this year.
State leaders will be working to hold onto the coal jobs that remain, but few are optimistic about bringing large numbers back. The need to find new job opportunities for workers in our region is not only real, but urgent…