Mikaela Curry

Opinion contributor

Within walking distance from my house in Pike County, Kentucky, a large sign on a barn declares, “Got Electricity? Thank a Miner.” Trademarked as “America’s Energy Capital,” Pike County is the easternmost county in Kentucky, nestled into the ridged edges of West Virginia and Virginia. There is evidence of the legacy of mining almost everywhere you look.

There are many disparaging clichés made about this region, but if you live here for much time, you’ll find that our people are most frequently generous and kind, and communities hold a deep and powerful loyalty to tradition. This commitment to tradition is the only reason I can fathom that voters continue to elect a representative like Sen. Mitch McConnell when his actions and representation so clearly jeopardize the futures of our families, community and place.

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McConnell has repeatedly failed to do right by our coal workers and communities. In 2017, McConnell co-authored a high-profile op-ed claiming to support projects that would “provide financial, environmental and economic support to hard-hit coal regions.” However, in a stark contrast to this claim, last year (and the year before that, and the year before that) he failed to win, or even fight for, federal funding for the RECLAIM Act, the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, and miners’ pension fund. All three of these measures are urgently needed to support a Just Transition for workers and communities in Kentucky.

The RECLAIM Act alone would have brought $1 billion back to coal mining regions in Central Appalachia. But, despite strong outcry from his constituents — including 16 local governments that passed local resolutions urging his support — McConnell did not push for a vote for these programs that would directly benefit his constituents. Despite his enormous influence in Congress, he did nothing. Much like the miners suffering from black lung, he allowed these measures to die without a voice.

Yet, just this past week, he had no problem raising his voice in an attempt to bully the Tennessee Valley Authority to keep open the Paradise Fossil Plant, a move that would have burdened electricity customers with hundreds of millions of dollars in additional fees to pay for repairs and equipment upgrades on a facility that has been deemed unreliable. Instead the TVA voted to close Paradise and another plant near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which will save TVA — and thus its customers — $320 million.

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When McConnell and his allies say they are ending the war on coal, they never seem to mention that coal consumption has been on a continuous decline for decades and in 2018 was expected to hit its lowest point since 1979, or that 81 percent of (including 64 percent of Republicans) support policies that will produce jobs, strengthen the economy, and accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. When McConnell speaks up for coal, it always seems to align with the people profiting in the fossil fuel industry and not the hard-working people he is supposed to represent.

Why is McConnell silent while miners die and their families are left to battle for scraps from the companies who profited from the work that took their loved ones’ life? Why is McConnell silent when there is the opportunity to bring one billion dollars into the economy of this region?

And why now do we hear his voice raised against the Green New Deal, when it is the only proposal currently before Congress that could help our state make a Just Transition? A key component of the Green New Deal is providing job retraining to anyone who needs it, and targeting massive investment to create new jobs, especially in areas hit hardest by structural changes in our economy — areas like Kentucky.

It’s the only proposal that matches the scale of the climate and economic crisis we are facing, and the people of this region would likely be some of the biggest beneficiaries, from lower electricity bills to clean water infrastructure to resources for schools and communities.

Mr. McConnell, if you don’t support the Green New Deal, the RECLAIM Act, or legislation on black lung — what IS your plan? How do you propose to care for your constituents? Where is your plan to deliver economic prosperity, job opportunities and significant pollution reduction?

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At some point in the last year, the sign on that barn near my house came down — not because the people of this community don’t still support miners, but perhaps because we are starting to see the light of a different day.

With each passing day, Kentuckians are wondering if change can bring us better than what we have, including elected representatives who have a voice for the people. Certainly, we deserve better than a politician who fails to help us in the short term and loudly undermines long-term solutions. McConnell may be a friend of coal, but he’s no friend to its people.

Mikaela Curry is a community organizer and member of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth who lives in Pike County, Kentucky.