Sheila Wagoner is not a fan of the wind farm overlooking Keyser, West Virginia.
"I really don't care for those windmills," the 71-year-old says. "I guess I wasn't brought up with that kind of society. Like 50 of 'em together? Who likes all that?"
It's not just the visual contrast that Wagoner finds bothersome. She is from one of many families in Keyser — and throughout West Virginia — that relied on the coal industry for generations. Her late father worked as a railway engineer for coal trains that used to run non-stop through Keyser.
Today, those trains are an increasingly rare sight.
As Wagoner speaks, one of the few remaining coal trains passes through the town of just under 5,000 people. Watching it rumble by, she gets a little emotional.
"That reminds me of my dad. When I see a train, my dad's there," she says. "Those memories are good memories."
There is a popular perception in West Virginia that renewable energy has been killing the coal industry. However, that narrative is incomplete. Jobs in coal had been in decline decades before the wind turbines came to Keyser in 2012.
Still, the turbines are a clear — and for some, bitter — sign that times have changed. As they slowly spin in the breeze, they stir up mixed feelings.
Pride and politics
Some residents of Keyser say coming home covered in coal dust is something to be proud of. A sign of a hard day's work.
"It's part of that Appalachian Mountain thing. I think people are very proud of who they are and where they're from," says Keyser's Mayor Damon Tillman. "Energy is huge in this town and without it, we wouldn't have much."
Today, the shift from fossil fuels to renewables is accelerating.
In 2022, the country's first major climate policy, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, passed with the promise to speed up that transition, offering at least $4 billion to boost development of renewable projects like the Pinnacle Wind Farm in Keyser.
That law passed with the key vote of West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, but Tillman is skeptical that those benefits will reach Keyser.
"I like Joe. I talk to him a good bit. But the thing is a city like Keyser [doesn't] ever see any of that money," says Tillman. "That money all goes to bigger cities – Morgantown, Jefferson County, Charleston. So it doesn't do us any good."
Senator Manchin declined NPR's request for an interview on this topic.
The mayor's sentiments echo what is being felt more broadly across the state, says Hoppy Kercheval. He hosts the daily radio program Talkline on West Virginia MetroNews and has been on the air for nearly 50 years.
If anyone has a read on how people in this state are feeling, it's him.
"Manchin [is seen as] selling out to Biden and his fellow Democrats, and politically that hurt him," says Kercheval.
Click here to read more weku.org
Photo Credit: gettyimages-laughingmango
Categories: Kentucky, Energy