Steps to Aid US Fossil Fuel Workers in the Clean Energy Transition

The briefing outlines a strategy for the U.S. federal government to support fossil fuel workers facing displacement due to the energy transition and the economic impact of COVID-19. It proposes three immediate federal interventions: employing workers to rehabilitate abandoned coal mines and plug orphan oil and gas wells, expanding funding for existing economic development programs like the POWER Initiative and the EDA ACC program, and utilizing innovative financial mechanisms such as securitization to lower costs for ratepayers and fund community support. For long-term stability, the author advocates for a comprehensive federal energy transition adjustment assistance program modeled after the Department of Labor's Trade Adjustment Assistance, providing retraining, relocation allowances, and wage insurance.

• Significant job losses are projected for U.S. fossil fuel workers: approximately 12,000 coal mining and related industry workers annually from 2021 to 2030, and 34,000 oil and gas workers annually from 2031 to 2050.
• Environmental remediation offers immediate employment opportunities for displaced workers. Rehabilitating abandoned coal mines could create over 13,000 jobs in Appalachia, while plugging 56,600 identified orphan oil and gas wells across 30 states could create roughly 13,500 jobs for one year, with costs estimated between $1.4 billion and $2.7 billion.
• The federal government can support coal communities by expanding existing programs and funds, such as the Appalachian Regional Commission’s POWER Initiative, the Economic Development Administration’s Assistance to Coal Communities (ACC) program, and the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, the latter of which supports about 25,000 retired coal workers.
• Securitization can mitigate the costs of retiring uneconomic coal plants by refinancing high-cost utility debt with low-interest, ratepayer-backed bonds. The U.S. Department of Energy could further incentivize this by expanding its loan guarantee program under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to include these mechanisms.
• A long-term federal energy transition adjustment assistance program is recommended to provide retraining, relocation allowances, and wage insurance, drawing on the structure of the Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program.

APA

World Resources Institute (2021). Steps to Aid US Fossil Fuel Workers in the Clean Energy Transition. https://www.wri.org/insights/steps-aid-us-fossil-fuel-workers-clean-energy-transition

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Steps to Aid US Fossil Fuel Workers in the Clean Energy Transition. 2021. https://www.wri.org/insights/steps-aid-us-fossil-fuel-workers-clean-energy-transition.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Steps to Aid US Fossil Fuel Workers in the Clean Energy Transition |date=25 January 2021 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/steps-aid-us-fossil-fuel-workers-clean-energy-transition |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2021steps, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Steps to Aid US Fossil Fuel Workers in the Clean Energy Transition}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/steps-aid-us-fossil-fuel-workers-clean-energy-transition}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }