Obama hands out $14.5 billion to help coal workers
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The White House will give out more than $14.5 billion in awards and grants to 36 groups in 12 states to help communities that have been hurt by changes in the coal and energy sectors.
According to a White House fact sheet released Thursday, President Obama's administration will hand out $14,546,457 for partnerships in 12 states and tribal nations. The grants and awards are coming through the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization, or POWER, initiative.
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The program aims to retrain coal workers for work in another field.
The grant awards include $1.2 million to turn a former school into a substance abuse treatment center for women in Kentucky, $1.3 million to improve Internet connections near Montrose, Colo., $2 million to the states of Ohio and Kentucky to retrain displaced coal workers and $600,000 to help West Virginia farmers increase agricultural production at surface mine sites.