Giving up coal dependency
Greene County and its school districts are particularly hard pressed these days to devise a long-term strategy to stay the financial course. As coal continues to be removed beneath Greene’s surface, the value of mineral rights plummet and with it revenue that the county and school districts use to stay afloat. That it is rapidly disappearing came as no surprise.
As Greene County’s chief assessor H. John Frazier said, “There is no way to produce more coal in Greene County. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
The eastern part of Greene has already discovered this and is struggling in the post coal days.
With 35 to 40 million tons of coal removed yearly from central and western Greene, those districts soon will continue to see a significant decline in revenue. In six to 15 years, it will vanish altogether, according to Resource Technologies Corp., a State College-based firm, hired by Greene to help assess mineral rights.
Until this year, half the county’s value was derived from coal. It has dropped to about one-third and will continue to slide.
The bad news was delivered last week during a series of meetings hosted by the county to convey the information to the school districts.
It wasn’t unexpected news. What the county and the schools do with the information is important.
We would hope that they do as Frazier suggested and work together to develop ways to improve the county’s economy and move away from its reliance on coal.