Opposing lawmakers team up to introduce House legislation that benefits displaced miners

A pair of House lawmakers plan to introduce a bipartisan bill "to create a program that provides paid job training and benefits to coal industry workers to make them marketable in other workforce sectors," Emma Dumain and Lauren Gardner report for Roll Call. Rep. David B. McKinley (R-W.Va.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) are modeling their bill after the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, "a successful and relatively noncontroversial federal initiative that re-trains individuals who are unemployed as a result of certain trade agreements."

The key is to get Republicans and Democrats to put away their bitter feud concerning the coal industry, climate change and the perceived "war on coal" by keeping "the bill so narrowly focused that members won’t be tempted to turn it into a dumping ground for politically loaded amendments," Dumain and Gardner write. McKinley told Roll Call, “The debate will continue on over climate change, and I hope we can have an adult conversation about that. At the same time, we want to make sure these people are not the collateral damage.”

Dumain and Gardner write, "For such a contentious issue, it’s significant that McKinley, whose state’s economy has historically been fueled by the coal industry, should partner up with Welch, whose state is so 'green' it’s the only one the Environmental Protection Agency won’t regulate under its proposed carbon pollution limits for power plants—because Vermont doesn’t have any coal-burning facilities."

In fact, the pair are like The Odd Couple, with McKinley frequently blasting the Obama administration for promoting environmental regulations “based on ideology and not science,” while Welch criticizes the Republican-led House for “climate change denial,” Dumain and Gardner write. But they have teamed up before to promote energy efficiency.

Welch told Roll Call, “In order for us to move ahead, there has to be some serious acknowledgement on the part of those of us who think climate change is an issue … that workers in the coal fields have been American heroes for years. You can buy into the importance of helping folks who … suddenly had the rug pulled out from them.” (Read more)