Representatives of the Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization joined a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) virtual roundtable event today to discuss the agency’s plans to invest $4 billion through the Build Back Better initiative to strengthen the food supply chain and ensure the resilience and fairness of the food system.
During the roundtable, USDA also emphasized its work reclaiming coal land for agricultural and other purposes, which deeply aligns with the IWG’s mission to support the economic revitalization and environmental remediation of energy communities.
“The food system, coal land reclamation and economic revitalization are interconnected and play a critical role in strengthening our energy communities, supporting energy workers and providing them with the resources to thrive as the nation transitions to a clean energy economy,” Anderson said.
The funding for the USDA’s initiative is made possible through the American Rescue Plan Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.
Established by an Executive Order in President Biden’s first week in office, the IWG is pursuing a whole-of-government approach to create good-paying union jobs, spur economic revitalization, remediate environmental degradation and support energy workers in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities across the country as the U.S. prepares to undergo a historic energy evolution to a carbon emission-free electricity sector by 2035 and economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050.