WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new proposal from U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) will help rejuvenate communities in coal country, restore habitat and outdoors spaces, put hardworking Americans back working in good-paying jobs and support natural and technological carbon sequestration.

“We have a responsibility to ensure that the mine workers, who powered our industrial rise, built the arsenal of democracy and fueled America’s economic prosperity, have good-paying jobs and work reclaiming abandoned mines, restoring wildlife habitat, reducing pollution and revitalizing coal communities,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “Sen. Duckworth’s Marshall Plan for Coal Country Act of 2020 keeps faith with these ideas and underscores that we can create hundreds of thousands of jobs reclaiming abandoned mine lands, sequestering carbon through nature and technology, restoring wildlife habitat and rejuvenating coal communities. The Senate should swiftly take up this commonsense bill and ensure mining communities play a critical role in our efforts to rebuild our economy and act on climate.”