MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Four U.S. senators and the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center on Wednesday proposed 19 measures to boost the economy in Appalachia, including expanded broadband and telemedicine and tapping the region’s “vast” natural gas reserves for chemical and advanced manufacturing facilities.
The initiative is intended to help reverse struggles with poverty and isolation in the 13-state region where more than 25 million people live. Other proposals include investments in highways and community water systems and education options like Pell Grants for older, non-traditional students.
The senators involved are Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Mark Warner of Virginia and Republicans David Perdue of Georgia and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Appalachia has been disproportionately hurt by economic shifts and declines in coal mining and traditional manufacturing, they said in a preface to the report.
“With the right investments and smart policy, we can benefit from the energy transition now underway, as well as build and modernize transportation, water and sewer, and broadband infrastructure for the next century,” Manchin said.
West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania are now among the top 10 gas-producing states, the report said. It also noted the mountainous region’s potential for harnessing wind power, federal research underway to extract rare earth elements from coal byproducts and ongoing development of “clean coal” carbon-capture technology that could be accelerated, commercialized and exported to nations like India and China.