Centralia, USA faced disaster when its local coal plant run by TransAlta closed. But after getting a permit to build a natural gas plant on the same site, the company has committed $55 million for community development. Ben Paulos explores at the transition away from coal in Washington State. Despite proclamations from the Trump Administration that “the war on coal is over,” coal power plants continue to shut down.  The Sierra Club counts 268 coal plants that have closed or announced specific plans to retire, constituting half of the nation’s coal capacity. While the transition is good news for the planet, it can spell disaster for communities dependent on power plant jobs and tax revenues. But a plant in Washington state is showing that the transition away from coal need not be done at the expense of workers. The massive coal plant near Centralia, Washington has been the communities’ biggest employer since 1971 – as well as the state’s biggest pollution source.  The 1340 megawatt plant, owned by the Canadian company TransAlta, is responsible for … Continue reading Washington State leaves coal behind, but not its workers