On November 12, 2020, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and other mayors from Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia announced the "Marshall Plan for Middle America," a $60 billion per year plan running from 2021 to 2030 that will help the region transition away from fossil fuels toward more a sustainable economy.[1] The nonpartisan plan was drafted by academic and policy researchers based at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the City of Pittsburgh, the Steel Valley Authority and the Heartland Capital Strategies Network, and the Enel Foundation. The plan calls for federal and private funds to provide $15 billion in block grants to local governments to make buildings more energy efficient; $15 billion in low-interest loans for clean energy production; $15 billion in tax incentives for manufacturers to develop clean energy equipment; and $15 billion in workforce development funds to help further understanding of clean energy. The plan notes that although local action has been taken, federal help is key, especially for jurisdictions in rural Appalachia that struggle economically. The authors estimate that the investments will generate an average of about 270,000 direct plus indirect jobs and an additional 140,000 induced jobs, for a total average annual increase of about 410,000 jobs.

[1] https://www.sustainablebusiness.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/mp4ma_roadmap_-_final_1.pdf