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- West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin opposes clean-energy projects in his party's reconciliation bill.
- The coal industry, and a "coal culture" in the state, has a tight grip on Manchin and, in turn, Democrats' spending plans.
- Yet the coal industry is already in a years-long decline, and coal hiring is near historic lows.
Democrats' clean energy ambitions are being haunted by the ghosts of coal miners past.
Sen. Joe Manchin is opposing renewables projects in the Democrats' $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill because of his close ties to his state's coal industry. However, those jobs are long gone in West Virginia, where the bulk of the economy has shifted to services like healthcare and education. Despite that loss, coal is still a major part of the state's identity – and its political forces.
Manchin himself has financially benefited from aiding the coal industry and preventing a shift to renewable energy. He owns a $5 million stake in Enersystems, a coal brokerage he founded in 1988 that his son now operates, according to The Guardian. He's also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors in the gas and oil industry.
In addition,"coal culture" – a term championed by the United Mine Workers of America – has a grasp on the Capitol, and on many states' economies. Thanks to longstanding unions, miners have been among the country's most vocal political groups. While the sector's relevance in the 21st century economy has declined, the shared identity borne out of "coal culture" has kept miners powerful. Their influence in swing states like West Virginia and Pennsylvania can boost or tank a political party's ambitions.
In the 50-50 split Senate, their ability to steer Manchin can mean a trillion-dollar difference in federal spending. And for Manchin, the cohort could mean the difference between reelection and losing his decade-long tenure in the Senate.
Yet for such an influential sector, the country's mining businesses have been in decline for decades.
Employment at American coal miners has fallen from its peak of 178,000 people in 1985 to roughly 42,000 this September. Job growth also shows little sign of returning to pre-pandemic levels; the sector has only recovered about half of its lost jobs and hiring has been mostly flat since December 2020.
The diagnosis is similarly bleak in West Virginia. Mining and logging businesses in the state employ roughly 19,000 people. While that's above the pandemic low of 16,000, it also pales in comparison to the nearly 36,000 payrolls the sector boasted in 2011. The industries also haven't returned to their pre-pandemic strength, and most recently shed 1,000 jobs in August.
As with most of the country, West Virginia has been steadily transitioning to a services-focused economy. There were nearly seven times as many workers in the state's education and health care sectors than in mining and logging as of August. It's not the entire state's workforce that's shrinking, but a handful of sectors, mining and logging included.
For now, the West Virginia coal sector is holding Democrats' spending ambitions hostage. But the economic data is clear. Manchin seems to be protecting a fading industry, and as the rest of the world shifts to renewable energy, West Virginia's influence could keep the US running behind.