‘This is the future’: rural Virginia pivots from coal to green jobs

Region's long awaited energy and economic transition will be substantially boosted by US's first climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act

When Mason Taylor enrolled at the local vocational school with dreams of becoming an electrician like his dad, it was assumed that the ninth-grader would eventually end up moving away from Wise county, Virginia, to find a decent job.

Now 19, Taylor just bought a truck after a summer apprenticing with a crew of electricians installing rooftop solar systems at public schools in the county. He was among a dozen or so rookies paid $17 an hour, plus tools and a travel stipend, as part of the state's first solar energy youth apprenticeship scheme.