U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm believes clean energy can help move former coal communities forward.
Granholm specifically called out traditionally coal-dependent West Virginia and a solar facility in Kayenta, Ariz., saying President Joe Biden believes the future is for those who follow clean energy paths, according to an opinion piece published May 11 in The Hill.
"These communities have infrastructure ready-made for new energy generation opportunities like clean hydrogen, small-scale nuclear and long-term energy storage," Granholm said in her op-ed. "Some feature mine lands suited for rare earth elements or critical mineral extraction underground, wells that could be used to harness geothermal energy and surface areas for new businesses or clean energy projects."
New chances and opportunity are part of the features that once positioned the coal and power plant communities, and that "now position them to play key roles in new, clean energy industries," Granholm said in her op-ed.
"I've seen that promise while traveling across the country to places like Kayenta, Ariz., where a solar facility now produces enough electricity to power 36,000 homes in the surrounding Navajo lands," she said. "Kayenta's Navajo community was once reliant on a coal mine and generating station operated by companies in which residents lacked any real stake. Today, this community can draw both clean energy and revenues from the tribally-owned solar facility."
Kayenta and other communities that once were fossil fuel reliance also have skilled workforces that could be re-applied to green energy, Granholm said, adding that she's talked to form West Virginia coal miners who expressed "the desire to work in new jobs with a long future."
There also is greater will in Washington to make green energy jobs happen in those areas of the nation, Granholm said, according to The Hill.
"President Biden is calling on Congress to further help companies and resourceful communities claim their stake by offering tax credits and other incentives to ease the jump into new energy markets," she said in her op-ed. "These will deliver more jobs, lower energy bills, cleaner air and water and huge incentives for bringing manufacturing back to America, so we can build these technologies right here at home."
