"WASHINGTON - The White House said on Tuesday it was funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to help coal communities, including $450 million for clean energy projects on current and former mining areas.
The Department of Energy will also provide $16 million to the University of North Dakota and West Virginia University to complete design studies for a domestic refinery that will extract rare earth and other critical minerals from coal ash, acid mine drainage and other mine waste, the White House said.
"This project will help strengthen American supply chains, revitalize energy communities, and reduce reliance on competitors like China," the White House said in a statement.
The government action also includes putting 11 federal agencies to work in tandem on getting new resources into energy communities like former coal mining towns, it said."
