Source: Grist
What happens when communities rely on coal industries, but want to go green? Chances are that communities will lose money from closing down coal and heavy industries that pay large taxes that help fund public schools and public resources.
“This country has a very poor record of rescuing communities built up around coal and heavy industries,” says Richard Lipsitz of the AFL-CIO chapter.
“Our goal was to stabilize the economy and provide income for a town that needed it desperately,” he said, after his group and the Sierra Club as well as trade unions banded together to help come up with a plan to save the schools of the town of Tonawanda, which lost a huge source or revenue when the coal-fired Huntley Generating Station closed down due to pollution of air and water.
At least 140 teachers lost jobs and three elementary schools, one middle school closed down.
New York legislators stepped up and helped fund the town with $30M in “gap” funds after local organizations of the town had personally combed through the city’s budgets to see where they could potentially draw funds from. The funds were granted.
Additionally, after Governor Cuomo announced plans for a coal-free New York by 2020, the funds for Tonawanda were increased to $45M.
Read full story at: Grist