"Aid Package for Coal Country Goes Ignored by Congress"

"President Obama's $3 billion plan called 'cold comfort' by Republican leaders, who haven't allocated it to help coal-dependent communities."

"A massive $3 billion package to help struggling coal communities transition to a new economy is sitting unappropriated in the Republican-led Congress. And lawmakers are saying little—at least publicly—about if and how they ever plan to support it.

As part of the budget proposal released in February, the White House rolled out the POWER+ plan to support towns and communities struggling to cope with the decline in coal production and use. The initiative provides coal country with an influx of cash to reclaim abandoned mines, provide job training to miners, reform health and pension funds and invest in carbon capture technology.

But in the four months since the White House announced the plan, leaders in Congress have not addressed it in any detail."

Naveena Sadasivam reports for InsideClimate News June 24, 2015.