IIRC, West Virginia was one of the top states to use SNAP. SNAP benefits farmers — which I’ve commented on before in my “a lot of Trump administration policies seem to be surprisingly disadvantageous to agriculture, given that the GOP in 2025 is the rural party” point — and the poor.
The state with the highest rate of participation in SNAP was New Mexico, where 24.3% of the state’s residents were enrolled as of November 2022, nearly 5 percentage points higher than any other state. After New Mexico, Louisiana (19.5%), West Virginia (18.2%), Oklahoma (17.2%) and Oregon (17.0%) were among the states with the highest rates of participation.
The budget resolution that the House plans to take up this week directs the House Agriculture Committee to cut programs in its jurisdiction by at least $230 billion through 2034, with these cuts expected to come largely or entirely from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and to be used to help pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest business owners and households.
In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),[1] formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal government program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income persons to help them maintain adequate nutrition and health.
That being said, West Virginia did get socially-conservative policy on LGBT stuff, and Trump has at least made positive noises about coal; the decline of coal has been a major political issue in West Virginia.
I’m actually a little surprised that Wyoming is that high up there. Might be that Wyoming has risen recently.
Out of the five top producing states, West Virginia is the largest coal employer with over 11,500 workers in 2016. However, Wyoming has by far the largest coal output, producing almost four times as much coal as West Virginia with half the number of workers. Coal deposits in Wyoming are relatively thick and closer to the surface than deposits in other states, which allows high-output surface mining techniques that are less labor-intensive3.
Ah, might be that it’s because it’s more of a jobs thing in West Virginia. Probably employed more people historically too.
I keep reading west Virginians understand the impact on coal jobs of automation over the decades. Even if coal were to come back, the jobs won’t.
A little bit of searching through the data shows West Virginians are the least productive coal miners, most labor required, least automation. Even if coal were to come back, jobs won’t be going to West Virginia nor will mines pay well for lack of productivity.
The economic case against coal is open-shut. Even if you disregard the environment, coal is not coming back.
The funny thing is apparently US coal production had a huge drop during trumps first term and actually increased a little during Biden’s
IIRC, West Virginia was one of the top states to use SNAP. SNAP benefits farmers — which I’ve commented on before in my “a lot of Trump administration policies seem to be surprisingly disadvantageous to agriculture, given that the GOP in 2025 is the rural party” point — and the poor.
kagis
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/food-stamp-benefits-by-state
https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/millions-of-low-income-households-would-lose-food-aid-under-proposed-house
For anyone not familiar:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Nutrition_Assistance_Program
That being said, West Virginia did get socially-conservative policy on LGBT stuff, and Trump has at least made positive noises about coal; the decline of coal has been a major political issue in West Virginia.
https://profession.americangeosciences.org/society/intersections/faq/which-states-are-largest-producers-and-consumers-coal/
I’m actually a little surprised that Wyoming is that high up there. Might be that Wyoming has risen recently.
Ah, might be that it’s because it’s more of a jobs thing in West Virginia. Probably employed more people historically too.
I keep reading west Virginians understand the impact on coal jobs of automation over the decades. Even if coal were to come back, the jobs won’t.
A little bit of searching through the data shows West Virginians are the least productive coal miners, most labor required, least automation. Even if coal were to come back, jobs won’t be going to West Virginia nor will mines pay well for lack of productivity.
The economic case against coal is open-shut. Even if you disregard the environment, coal is not coming back.
The funny thing is apparently US coal production had a huge drop during trumps first term and actually increased a little during Biden’s
But it’s not coming back