Black Lung
Whatever Happened to the RECLAIM Act? Mitch McConnell killed it.
We are two women who have different connections to Appalachia, but who share a passion for the mountains. Melissa grew up in Van Lear, the home of Loretta Lynn. Her mom and dad still reside there. Many of her relatives worked in the mines, including both of her grandfathers. Rebecca lived much of her adult life in the hills of North Carolina.
Media campaign pushes Congress to act on RECLAIM Act and black lung fund
In January, KFTC and several ally groups launched a paid media campaign – including 10 billboards plus radio, newspaper and digital ads in central and eastern Kentucky – calling on members of Congress to stand up for coal miners and communities by passing a package of Just Transition bills in 2020.
We Need a Just Transition—Because We Should Abandon Coal, Not Coal Workers
Taking care of those communities distressed by the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy is an economic and ethical imperative.
The coal industry is dying. But we can’t allow the communities that have been dependent on coal to die along with it.
Black Lung Disease Back and Worse Than Before
Across Appalachia, thousands of coal miners have suffered from black lung disease. In the 1960s, miners organized a movement to end the chronic condition. They convinced Congress to pass new laws that were supposed to make black lung a thing of the past. Today, conditions underground have changed, and the disease has come roaring back.
Fixing What's Broke, Updated 2019
This is a slightly updated version, released in July 2019, of a report KFTC first published in 2018 about a trio of legislative proposals Congress needs to pass to do right by our miners and communities: The Reclaim Act, a bill to strengthen funding for the black lung disability trust fund, and a bill to protect miners' pensions.
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