Clinton releases plan to help coal country adapt to climate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign announced a $30 billion plan to help coal country adapt to new climate change policies that could have a striking economic impact on their communities.

Clinton's team says her proposal will protect health benefits for coal miners and their families and help them retrain for new jobs. The plan will also use a combination of tax incentives and government grants to help coal-dependent communities repurpose old mine sites and attract new economic investment.

Eight years ago, Clinton ran as a champion of coal beating then Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries with support from working class white Democrats.

Her rhetoric has shifted now. In recent months, Clinton has tackled left on environmental issues, pledging to make combatting climate change a major goal of her presidency and opposing the Keystone XL pipeline, which was rejected by the Obama administration on Friday.

But she's also vowed to protect coal workers, who she says helped power much of the country's economic growth.