Posted on 01/27/2022 7:53:20 AM PST by george76
The coal plant is closing, along with the mine that feeds it and has nearly 115 more employees, and all the workers will lose their jobs over the next decade
...
The same scenario is playing out in other small towns across the U.S. After decades of relying on coal for their workforce, tax base and way of life, the towns face uncertain futures as new state and national legislation forces the retirement of fossil fuels
...
The impact spreads beyond the plants workers and is felt by the rest of the community, too. In Craig, much of the infrastructure of the county is supported by the coal plant workers.
...
Moffat County is made up of millions of acres of public lands, and its mineral deposits of high-volatility and low-sulfur coal brought the industry to town and sustained families for decades.
...
As the coal industry goes, so will nearly half of Moffat County’s gross domestic product, Peterson said. It could affect services like healthcare, fire departments, infrastructure and upkeep for neighborhoods and roadways.
According to Ray Beck, former Moffat County commissioner and mayor of Craig, the county’s biggest source of revenue is property tax. Moffat County’s 2020 assessed value was nearly $430 million with 62% coming from the top 10 taxpayers, all energy-related businesses.
“We can’t recover from that,” Beck said.
...
The loss of coal jobs in a community like Craig also will hurt small businesses whose customers are primarily coal workers and have disposable income
...
Many coal workers are frustrated and angry at the decisions made by Denver-based politicians that affect rural communities. They see other nations like China and India continuing to build new coal mines and think it’s hypocritical.
Two-thirds of the world’s coal is used for electric power
(Excerpt) Read more at coloradosun.com ...
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
My Hometown
B.Springsteen
I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
I’d sit on his lap in that big old buick and steer as we drove through town
He’d tousle my hair and say son take a good look around
This is your hometown, this is your hometown
This is your hometown, this is your hometown
In `65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a saturday night in the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed in a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come to my hometown
My hometown, my hometown, my hometown
Now main street’s whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain’t nobody wants to come down here no more
They’re closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain’t coming back to
Your hometown, your hometown, your hometown, your hometown
Last night me and kate we laid in bed talking about getting out
Packing up our bags maybe heading south
I’m thirty-five we got a boy of our own now
Last night i sat him up behind the wheel and said son take a good
Look around
This is your hometown
Pure evil. Poor folks got no place to go except the govt handout lines.
Texas’s ‘Nightmare’ Energy Situation Is a Warning to the Rest of America About Reliance on Wind and Solar Energy.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3935031/posts
This is sad news.
California also.
The left hates middle class workers / towns.
Using wolves to destroy family ranchers, too.
“.... state and national legislation forces the retirement of fossil fuels”
Well, to be sure Americans voted for that.
Wait, what? We didn’t, did we.
No, this is being done purposefully and with malice aforethought. Evil is the only way to put it.
It will be impossible to change the socialist mindset of liberals.
‘Oh we’re striking here in Allentown
and we’re closing all the factories down (Yeah)
In Bethlehem we’re just killing time
Paying union dues
Holding protest signs’
You’re right and especially if those ‘deplorables” are involved in energy production.
Some ranchers take care of business when it comes to wolves. I have heard some stories. Enough said.
This is sad to see. Similar situations have been happening in other towns where local economies are devastated by the closure of industrial facilities. Sadly, many people will move away. There will be many ancillary effects, such as the severe decline in local property tax revenue to support public services.
And sadly, if that community is able to recruit new businesses to create new jobs, it is very likely the new jobs will pay a lot less than the jobs being lost.
Higher food and energy prices, empty grocery and other stores, no electrical power .. may get some of their attention.
Anti-fracking Boulder advises residents to bundle up as natural gas costs soar..
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4033125/posts
Working communities often lose their young people - best and brightest who are willing to work hard - leave looking for decent paying jobs.
People’s lives devastated - Environmentalists high 5 each other.
Environmentalism is just an excuse these psychos use to excuse their vile evil hatred for humanity. I’ve known enough environmentalists to know that most are anthrophobes. Their true goal is mass murder. Environmentalism is just the excuse they wield.
And they already really really big fans of the Denver people already. /s
So many small towns in the West are dependent on one major source of income. When it is gone the towns often lose most of their population.
I knew people who worked on those plants when they were being built.
Page AZ plants are gone.
Nucla is gone.
APS and PNM plants in New Mexico will soon be shut down.
Thankfully our plant, far east of there, built about the same time as the Craig plants and Page plants, is still running with modifications brought on by Obama.
There are several other big coal fields in the West, which were planned to have a mine mouth power plant built. all those have been canceled.
Many small towns were economically and socially successful until the left shows up.. Then the leftists block historical businesses ( commercial fishing, logging, ranching, farming, sheep herding, mining .. ) that supported family and secondary businesses - like restaurants, clothing stores, etc.
"Moffat County is made up of millions of acres of public lands..."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.