New Mexico Coal Layoffs Underscore Need to Help Workers, Communities Transition

Industry Decline Highlights Need for Obama Administration to Move Communities Toward Clean Energy, Sustainable Economies

Santa Fe, NM—With the coal industry announcing the laying off 150 workers in New Mexico this week, WildEarth Guardians is renewing its call for a full transition away from coal and for Peabody and other mining companies to commit to an orderly end to their businesses.

“Instead of helping workers and communities transition away from coal, Peabody and other coal executives are putting people out of jobs in a conceited attempt to stay in business,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians.  “Rather than laying off workers, Peabody and other failing coal companies should be stepping up to help miners receive the resources they need to move on to more sustainable and secure careers.”

This week, Peabody laid off 65 workers at its El Segundo and Lee Ranch mining operations near Grants while Westmoreland laid off 85 workers at its San Juan coal mine near Farmington.  The layoffs come as industry is in steep decline because of dropped demand for coal and the accumulation of massive debt.  In April, Peabody, the world’s largest private sector coal company, filed for bankruptcy.  Peabody and other coal companies have laid off hundreds in the western U.S. in the last six months.

Overall, the future for coal is bleak.  With the U.S. and the world striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect the climate, all signs point to the need to move away from coal as a source of energy.  Last year, a study found that to meet modest climate protection objectives, 90% of all U.S. coal reserves would need to remain in the ground.

“The reality is, there is no future for coal,” said Nichols.  “Its time for industry to acknowledge this and takes steps to wind down their coal mining operations in an orderly and compassionate way, not simply collapse and force communities and workers to suffer in the aftermath.”

Even the Obama Administration and Congress are recognizing the decline and are moving to support coal-dependent communities transition.  Earlier this year, the RECLAIM Act (Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More) was introduced to unlock $1 billion in funding.

Communities in New Mexico, including the Navajo Nation government, have already taken advantage of more than $1.5 million in grants to help transition from coal.

In a letter to Peabody Energy earlier this year, WildEarth Guardians called directly on the company to ensure workers and communities are aided as they end their coal mining businesses.  Guardians also called on the companies to undertake expeditious reclamation of their mining operations.  The company has yet to respond.

In the meantime, the U.S. Department of the Interior is weighing reforms to the way publicly owned coal is managed.  Responding to mounting controversy over the climate impacts of coal, the costs of fossil fuels, and industry breaks, Interior is in the midst of holding a series of public hearings, including next week in Grand Junction, Colorado.

WildEarth Guardians has called on the Interior Department to make transition a number one priority of its reform efforts, calling on the agency to “Just Transition.”

“The coal industry is broken and the solution isn’t to fix it, it’s to get rid of it,” said Nichols.  “Now is the time for us all to get serious about seizing the opportunity to genuinely and completely move our nation to cleaner energy and more sustainable and secure economies.”


 

All active news articles