Revival of Coal Industry Will Not Work Much for Job Growth

A new study has found that current federal efforts to revive coal industry will not work much. This revival will do more harm rather than producing any good to fragile Appalachian communities transitioning from coal as a major source of employment.

The study has been conducted by researchers of Indiana University. The research team performed their research by involving focus groups and interviews in Appalachia. The research team drew three conclusions from their study about an industry that has seen employment drop by 71 percent since 1985. The first conclusion was that rolling back of environmental regulations will not really lead to a significant resurgence of the coal industry. This is because those regulations played a minor role in comparison to slowing demand for electricity and thus a surge in cheaper, cleaner sources of energy.

The second conclusion is that promising coal communities about return of their jobs will fill them with false hopes. The last one is having a deep focus on helping communities by Government programs that has the ability to find and harness new economic and human development opportunities.

By: Bhavna Sharma                                  

Content: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171027085523.htm