West Virginia

"If You Fund It, They Will Come," a report by ReImagine Appalachia and Keystone Research Center, found the IRA significantly boosted clean energy investments in Appalachia. Federal clean energy investments in KY, OH, PA, and WV grew 17-fold ($11.5 billion) between 2022-2024, doubling total regional spending from $7.7 billion (2022) to nearly $15.9 billion (2023), with continued growth in 2024. Proposed reconciliation bill drafts threaten this progress, risking jobs, lowering state GDP, and increasing household energy costs. Fact sheets detail these potential harms if IRA provisions are rolled back.

Building long-lasting grassroots power requires centering concrete issues and the humanity of individuals you’re organizing. Many organizations in West Virginia are cultivating organizers, building organizations that can sustainably organize local communities according to their needs for years to come, incorporating mutual aid, and more, in an effort to win and wield political power. In this article, The Forge contributor Mat Hanson discussed organizational strategies with multiple people involved in grassroots power building in West Virginia: Katey Lauer, co-chair of West Virginia Can’t Wait; Nicole McCormick, a founding member of the West Virginia United caucus and rank-and-file leader in the successful teacher’s strike; Dr. Shanequa Smith of Restorative Actions and the Black Voters Impact Initiative; and Joe Solomon, the co-founder and co-director of Solutions Oriented Addiction Response (SOAR), a volunteer-based organization that advocates for harm-reduction strategies to the opioid crisis.