The closure of West Virginia’s coal mines is more than just an economic shift. For a state built on extractive industries, it’s an identity crisis.
Members of the United Mine Workers devoted their lives to working in coal. Now faced with the prospect of losing their pensions, they’re calling on their country to pay them what they’re owed.
The young people of West Virginia are clear-eyed about what will help their state move forward—and it’s not more mines.
