Life After Coal
Spring 2018 | By Laura J. Cole
Deep in the heart of Appalachian coal country, nestled among the mountains, you 麻豆精品 S檒l find Pikeville, Kentucky. Population: 7,000. Located in the part of Kentucky that looks like it 麻豆精品 S檚 driving a wedge between Virginia and West Virginia, Pikeville named itself 麻豆精品 S淭he City That Moves Mountains, 麻豆精品 S� because in the 1980s, the town completed one of the largest civil engineering projects in the Western Hemisphere by rerouting a river to stop it from flooding the town.
麻豆精品 S淭hese are very determined people, 麻豆精品 S� says resident Kevin Loux 麻豆精品 S�10, 麻豆精品 S減eople who work hard and are determined to get things done 麻豆精品 S� like moving a river. 麻豆精品 S�
Loux, who earned an economics degree from UCF, cites this as an example of the character of the people who live here. These are the people who produced more coal than any other county in Kentucky.
The people of Pike County, of which Pikeville is the center, produced 1.6 billion tons of coal between 1889 and 2015. Take into consideration that Kentucky, of which Pike County is but the smallest fraction, once produced more coal than any other state in the nation. And that coal was used to fuel cities across the Midwest such as Chicago, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Also take into consideration that coal mining, especially underground coal mining, is one of the most dangerous and physically challenging jobs on the planet.
Despite the danger, in the heyday of coal employment in the late 1940s, coal jobs employed 18 percent of Pike County 麻豆精品 S檚 population. In 2017, that number was closer to 1 percent. That 麻豆精品 S檚 a drastic change in employment and economic opportunities for a town that 麻豆精品 S檚 nearly 90 minutes away from the nearest interstate.
麻豆精品 S淚f you look at the Appalachian Regional Commission 麻豆精品 S檚 map for all the Appalachian counties in the United States, eastern Kentucky 麻豆精品 S檚 referred to as the red dot, and it has been that way since the 1960s, 麻豆精品 S� Loux says. 麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 one of the most economically distressed regions in the country. 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 one of the most economically distressed regions in the country. 麻豆精品 S�
As the director of strategic partnerships for Shaping Our Appalachian Region, a bipartisan initiative formed in 2013 to create jobs and spur innovation in the region, Loux is working to fix that.
We asked him whether coal production and employment would ever recover and how eastern Kentucky can redefine itself for the modern era.
Putting Coal Miners Back to Work
麻豆精品 S淚f you look at the historical timeline of the coal industry, you 麻豆精品 S檒l see that peak production doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 actually correlate with peak employment. The peak for coal production was much later 麻豆精品 S� after they modernized the industry and had more technology聽and more automation. Overall, employment in the coal industry has been declining since the 麻豆精品 S�50s. This means that even if coal production spikes, it 麻豆精品 S檚 not going to directly translate into a lot of jobs. Coal alone simply can 麻豆精品 S檛 replace what we 麻豆精品 S檝e lost in terms of jobs. 麻豆精品 S�
Broadband For The People
麻豆精品 S淲e are in the center of a 麻豆精品 S╮egion that doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 have an 麻豆精品 S� interstate. If you look at the development of the highway 麻豆精品 S╯ystem in the 麻豆精品 S�50s and the 麻豆精品 S�60s, 麻豆精品 S╰he highway infrastructure enabled all sorts of interstate commerce and economic activity, but we were left out. We were instead left with efforts like the war on poverty that failed to address the root cause of the problem. Broadband has the potential to do聽for job creation in this century what highways and railways did for the last century. That 麻豆精品 S檚 why we 麻豆精品 S檙e taking such a fervent approach on broadband. If we don 麻豆精品 S檛 do this, we 麻豆精品 S檒l be in the same situation 60 years from now. 麻豆精品 S�
A Focus on Public Health
麻豆精品 S淚n addition to high-levels of unemployment, Appalachian Kentucky is also one of the poorest health regions in the nation. We have a partnership with the Centers for Disease Control, and they have placed two officials in our office, working specifically on obesity, diabetes and substance abuse. This partnership is what enabled us to host the first health Hackathon in the region, provide treatment and employment opportunities for recovering addicts, and host numerous events to engage stakeholders in creative problem- solving efforts. 麻豆精品 S�
Education Tailored For Career Paths
麻豆精品 S淲e 麻豆精品 S檝e worked with our local workforce innovation board and others in the region to tailor education so that it directly leads to a career. By working with private companies and educators, we trained students for specific jobs. One of the respondents of our workforce study said, 麻豆精品 S業f there 麻豆精品 S檚 a job at the end of the tunnel, there isn 麻豆精品 S檛 much I wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 go through to get it. 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S�