Coal miners' leader lobbies for job help

President Joe Biden meets with members of congress to discuss his jobs plan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, April 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Joe Biden meets with members of congress to discuss his jobs plan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, April 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

WASHINGTON -- The head of the nation's largest coal miners' union said Monday it would accept President Joe Biden's plan to move away from coal and other fossil fuels in exchange for a "true energy transition" that includes thousands of jobs in renewable energy and spending on technology to make coal cleaner.

Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, said ensuring jobs for displaced miners -- including 7,000 coal workers who lost their jobs last year -- is crucial to any infrastructure bill taken up by Congress.

"I think we need to provide a future for those people, a future for anybody that loses their job because of a transition in this country, regardless if it's coal, oil, gas or any other industry for that matter," Roberts said in an online speech to the National Press Club.

"We talk about a 'just transition' all the time," Roberts added. "I wish people would quit using that. There's never been a just transition in the history of the United States."

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., appearing with Roberts at the Press Club event, said measures to help coal miners in West Virginia and other rural states must be part of the $2.3 trillion infrastructure package taking shape in Congress.

"I can tell you how West Virginia feels. We feel like returning Vietnam veterans," Manchin said. "We've done every dirty job you've asked us to do. We never questioned. We did it and performed well. And now all of a sudden we're not good enough, we're not clean enough, we're not green enough and we're not smart enough. You want to know why they quit voting for Democrats, that's the reason."

A plan put forward by the mine workers' union calls for significant expansion of tax incentives for renewable energy and preference in hiring for dislocated miners; full funding for programs to plug old oil and gas wells and clean up abandoned mines; and continued incentives to develop so-called carbon capture and storage technology that traps carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels and stores it underground.

FILE - This Sept. 6, 2019 file photo, shows the Eagle Butte coal mine just north of Gillette, Wyo. While most states pursue ways to boost renewable energy, Wyoming is doing the opposite with a new program aimed at propping up the dwindling coal industry by suing other states that block exports of Wyoming coal and cause Wyoming coal-fired power plants to shut down. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver, File)
FILE - This Sept. 6, 2019 file photo, shows the Eagle Butte coal mine just north of Gillette, Wyo. While most states pursue ways to boost renewable energy, Wyoming is doing the opposite with a new program aimed at propping up the dwindling coal industry by suing other states that block exports of Wyoming coal and cause Wyoming coal-fired power plants to shut down. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver, File)
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., adjusts his face mask as he arrives for votes on Biden administration nominees, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., adjusts his face mask as he arrives for votes on Biden administration nominees, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - In this July 27, 2018, file photo, the Dave Johnson coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the morning sun in Glenrock, Wyo.  More than 300 businesses and investors are calling on the Biden administration to set an ambitious climate change goal that would cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030.   (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)
FILE - In this July 27, 2018, file photo, the Dave Johnson coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the morning sun in Glenrock, Wyo. More than 300 businesses and investors are calling on the Biden administration to set an ambitious climate change goal that would cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)

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