On Heels of Defending Miner Benefits, Hillary Clinton Unveils Strategy to

As the last pillar of her energy and climate agenda, Clinton’s plan, provided to HuffPost by a campaign official, focuses on safeguarding coal miners’ health and retirement benefits, and shifting local economies away from coal production rather than injecting more money into the ailing industry.

Clinton said she would increase public investment in research into carbon capture and sequestration technology, to burn coal more cleanly.

The plan would include federal investments in infrastructure, local development, job training and extending tax credits to vulnerable coal communities, according to a white paper provided by an aide.

Donald Trump blasted President Obama, federal prosecutors, the FBI, and the Democrats Thursday for protecting Hillary Clinton from getting arrested for her use of a private email server while secretary of State. At the same time, she will not allow coal communities to be left behind – or left out of our economic future. She claimed victory early last month after criticizing an IN coal company’s plans to use $18 million intended for workers’ health care on bankruptcy proceedings.

The national Republican Party called Clinton “Public Enemy No. 1 for coal miners” given her support for Obama’s environmental agenda. However Republicans fired back, noting in that Clinton is backing the highly arguable EPA plan requiring states to cut emissions from coal-fired power plants – a regulatory plan in that coal-state representatives are fighting.

Clinton’s plan would also expand broadband access in coal communities that fall far behind the rest of the country in terms of access to the internet. Clinton would also expand that program to cover power plant and transportation company retirees who lose benefits in coal bankruptcies. As an example, her campaign cited the example of a recently closed coal plant in Alabama that will soon be the site of a data center by Google.

In September, I wrote that the group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth had been advocating for a “just transition” and a cleaner economy and environment during coal’s decline. The blueprint also seeks to build new roads, bridges, water systems and airports and to finish the Appalachian Development Highway System – 83 percent of which is completed.

Eight years ago, Clinton ran as a champion of coal, beating then-Illinois Sen.

Coal has struggled to keep pace with the natural gas boom and increasingly affordable renewable energy sources.

In recent months, Clinton has moved left on environmental issues, pledging to make combating climate change a major goal of her presidency and opposing the Keystone XL pipeline, which was rejected by the Obama administration on Friday.

Declining demand for coal has pushed several companies into insolvency.