By Emily Price
In the popular imagination, the “sustainable future” often comes wrapped in a shiny, urban facade—high-tech cities filled with gleaming recyclable skyscrapers and pedestrian-focused architecture that will undo the damage of climate change through aesthetics and architectural ingenuity, ushering in the golden age of human progress once and for all. A quick Google search makes this clear: type in “sustainable future” and take note of the images that appear.
However, this polished urban ideal is far from the only form a clean, sustainable future could take. America’s Appalachian region, comprising 423 counties across 13 states from New York to Mississippi, is rarely the topic of conversation when it comes to mainstream political movements, let alone the push for the clean energy transition. However, I believe Appalachia represents a vast, underutilized resource with the potential to play a major role in the nation’s clean energy transition while simultaneously revitalizing communities that have long been neglected by the government and are ready for economic development.
Appalachia’s History with Coal
The story of Appalachia, more or less, is the story of coal. Most major mining operations started in the late 18th century in West Virginia (the only state that lies entirely within the Appalachian region), and quickly became irreplaceable in communities up and down the mountains. Coal companies formed towns around the mines and processing plants where workers and their families lived permanently. These towns were run almost entirely without state supervision. Corporations would even distribute their own currency or “scrip,” forcing workers to purchase everything they needed solely from the corporations themselves.
These communities, however, would not stay thriving forever. Around the mid-20th century, the coal mining process became increasingly mechanized, and these bustling coal towns were soon hollowed out to husks of their former selves. Workers were laid off en masse, corporations packed up and left town in search of better opportunities, and ordinary people trying to make an honest living suddenly found themselves without many viable alternatives to support themselves and their families. Today, coal production in Appalachia has fallen more than 65%, creating severe economic need throughout much of the region.
Clean Energy Can Step In…
Appalachia, however, is not destined to stay abandoned. RMI, a U.S. based think tank, conducted a study that showed that the benefits of wind and solar-driven economic development were greater in Appalachia–specifically West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio—than any other region in the U.S. Onshore wind and utility-scale solar projects are typically developed in rural areas with plentiful natural resources, which characterizes much of the Appalachian region and makes it a prime candidate for mutually beneficial development.
The “Manufacturing the New Energy Economy in Appalachia” initiative, backed by a $10 million grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, aims to reduce barriers for small- and medium-sized clean energy manufacturers across the region, while collaborating with local producers to support a sustainable energy transition. This money will help local businesses invest in job training programs or infrastructure development for 14 supply chains, including solar, wind and electric vehicle batteries.
But Not Without Help
However, taking advantage of this opportunity is not as easy as it sounds on paper. Despite the sharp decline in coal production over the decades, coal companies still exert tremendous influence over Appalachian politics. Coal companies often lobby to maintain production subsidies and prevent environmental regulations, spending millions of dollars annually on political contributions to influence legislation in their favor; the coal lobby spent over $15.3 million during the 2012 federal election. Their influence extends to state and local governments as well, and as a result, coal companies still enjoy incredible exclusive privileges in manufacturing and production that new clean energy companies simply cannot compete with.
Combatting this formidable opponent is daunting, but not impossible. Voting in local and state elections is crucial to loosening the grip of coal corporations on Appalachian communities, but this requires for there to be pro-clean energy candidates on the ballot in the first place. Organizations that are serious about developing large-scale clean energy infrastructure throughout Appalachia should invest in supporting candidates for local and state elections that support expanding renewable energy development, and encourage viable candidates to run in the first place (many times, there are simply no new candidates on the ballot!).
Once legislative support is in place, reforming permitting and zoning processes become critical to advancing clean energy projects. Delays in obtaining construction permits are frequently among the biggest obstacles to new development in the U.S., and the renewable energy sector faces similar challenges. Shifting development opportunities from established coal operators to new enterprises can illustrate that economic prosperity in Appalachia does not have to rest on the continuation of coal extraction.
Finally, targeted investment in job training and education within Appalachian communities is essential to ensure that the benefits of clean energy development directly reach local residents, rather than displacing or automating away employment opportunities. Expanding clean energy jobs can help reduce reliance on the coal and timber industries for livelihoods, while offering young people entering the workforce the chance to remain in their communities and earn a sustainable living supporting themselves and their families. It would also offer tangible health benefits to miners themselves and the larger community, protecting residents both from black lung from underground mines and air pollutants in surface mines.
Conclusion
Investing in clean energy development in Appalachia requires a strategy of resilience, especially in this time of policy uncertainty and political headwinds for renewables. Unfortunately, recent progress has been stalled by the Trump administration— a study by ReImagine Appalachia shows that 67% of the region’s 92,282 projected clean energy jobs are now at risk due to recent policy shifts. Investments in these projects, which tripled from 2021 to 2024 and peaked at $4.7 billion, have now fallen to just $445 million in 2025.
If we can demonstrate the resilience required for this undertaking, it would mean incredible benefits not only to the climate justice movement but also to some of the most vulnerable Americans, who have been abandoned by our government and politics for far too long. By investing in Appalachia, we invest in the idea of a sustainable future for all— not just in blue states, the aesthetic utopian cities, or the sci-fi dreams of Hollywood, but in communities of all shapes and sizes that should be able to enjoy the planet’s resources for generations to come.
Reader Question:
What other underrepresented communities often go unheard when we discuss the global energy transition?