President Obama continued his executive habit of throwing scraps to economically depressed areas that have been wrecked by his green climate agenda. And in the latest episode of Let Them Eat Cake, the federal government generously bestowed $28 million worth of grants across 13 states to help rebuild coal communities.
Now mind you, that’s not $28 million in cash to be given to folks who can no longer pay their light bills after being laid off from their well-paying jobs. It’s $28 million that’ll go toward government-approved projects – ones that will do very little to fill the economic crater caused by Obama’s EPA policies.
For example, a stunning $3 million will go toward an outdoor recreation project in Southern Appalachia, where the government will attempt to replace $60,000-$100,000 salaried coal jobs with brand new positions like ATV trail guides. The feds estimate the project will create 200 new jobs, a great start on replenishing the 10,000 West Virginian coal jobs that have been lost in the past couple of years alone.
Another $2.22 million will be spent on a “drone operator workforce” that’ll allegedly create whopping 64 jobs (that’s about $34,700 spent just creating each job, by the way).
About $1.8 million is being given to a wildlife center to restore Kentucky’s elk population, resulting in 86 jobs. Another $1.75 million will be used to create a new “entrepreneurial ecosystem” to “identify and develop new entrepreneurs – an initiative sure to help an out-of-work 50 year old coal miner.
And while they might not help laid-off coal miners pay their light bill, the feds are all too happy to spend $1 million on a project to “improve the energy efficient of low-income homes in coal-impacted communities.” Well, about 270 homes, anyway.
Finally, because the government can't do anything if not fund endless research projects, about $1 million will go to three studies analyzing how crappy coal communities have had it since they lost their entire industry, and how localities can pull themselves up by their now-retired bootstraps.
Other projects include expanding broadband services in Appalachia, building a few hiking trails, providing “technical assistance” to a several struggling counties in West Virginia, building an infrastructure for solar energy and improving an apartment complex in Charleston. Added up, the grants will supposedly create less than 2,400 jobs – even worse than the paltry 3,418 jobs that will allegedly spring up thanks to the $38.8 million worth of taxpayer-funded grants announced in August.
Considering the United States has lost at least 191,000 mining jobs in the last two years alone, we won’t blame unemployed miners if they decide this latest offering from the government teat just isn’t worth getting too excited about.