Environmental, fossil fuel advocates both optimistic about Manchin's energy approach | Energy and Environment

Chris Hamilton’s tenure with the West Virginia Coal Association has paralleled Joe Manchin’s rise in politics from the state House of Delegates in the 1980s to his run as a U.S. senator.

That history, Hamilton said, makes him optimistic the Democratic senator will be an ally in working to keep the federal government from forsaking coal amid moves toward a carbon-free economy.

“We’re obviously hopeful that Senator Manchin … would be an ally in trying to prevent a forced conversion of baseload generation into renewable power,” Hamilton said.

Now Manchin wields more power than ever in an evenly divided Senate under his party’s control. The coal country native who founded a coal brokerage is the incoming chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, where he will play a critical role in shaping federal energy policy.

“I think his role’s going to be pretty doggone important going forward,” Hamilton said. “No question about that.”

Helping fuel the intense scrutiny that Manchin has received in the early days of the President Joe Biden administration is Manchin’s reputation as a centrist. That has inspired optimism among environmentalists who see in his track record signs he will embrace measures toward a climate-conscious energy transition in the Biden era as long as it yields investments in coal communities in West Virginia.

“[Manchin] recognizes the urgent need to act on climate issues, but to do it in a way that helps West Virginia build a new and sustainable economy,” West Virginia Rivers Coalition Executive Director Angie Rosser said. “He is the right leader in the right position at this critical time to help our state and nation through this transition.”

Under Manchin’s watch as governor, the state Department of Environmental Protection sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2010 over mining permits. That same year, a Senate campaign ad featured Manchin firing a rifle at a copy of a bill to cap carbon emissions. He also introduced a bill that would have delayed EPA air pollution rules and joined Republicans in an unsuccessful effort to kill EPA regulations requiring cuts in toxic emissions from coal-fired plants, all during Barack Obama’s first term as president.

But Manchin has taken an “all of the above” approach to energy policy, embracing Biden’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050 and recently touting the passage of a year-end energy package that approved investments in renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, hydropower and geothermal.

“There’s so much new energy coming on board and so many different ways to produce energy, I think, cleaner than we’ve ever done it before,” Manchin said in a conference call with reporters Jan. 19, the day before Biden took office. “You just don’t eliminate anything from for the sake of — someone says, ‘Well, I don’t like that.’ Well, we need everything we [use] now in order to be energy-independent, but we need to use it cleaner. That’s our challenge.”

Manchin gave a measured response Wednesday to Biden’s round of climate executive orders, which included pausing new oil and gas leases on federal lands, establishing an interagency working group focusing on coal and power plant communities and economic revitalization, and directing federal agencies to coordinate investments to aid coal, oil and natural gas, and power plant communities.

“It is prudent to evaluate if taxpayers are receiving a fair return for the use of their resources,” Manchin said in a statement in response to the federal land oil and gas leasing pause. He noted Department of Interior estimates that 53% of land and 77% of public waters under lease have no active production.

Manchin reiterated his support for using all available resources in the cleanest way possible rather than looking to eliminate any of them.

“I intend to hold the administration to this while ensuring that the burden of any acceleration in already changing markets is not unduly placed on these communities that powered our nation to greatness,” Manchin said.

Molly Christian, a senior energy policy reporter for S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a West Virginia Center on Climate Change webinar Monday that he expects the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources under Manchin’s leadership to prioritize research and development for carbon capture technology and throw political weight behind expanded tax credits for using that technology.

“That’s the most kind of obvious technological and policy solution to kind of keep coal in the mix even as there’s this effort to lower emissions,” Christian said.

The technologies capture carbon dioxide emissions from sources such as coal-fired power plants and reuse the carbon dioxide to create products or store it permanently underground in geologic formations so it will not enter the atmosphere.

Manchin and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., were among a bipartisan group of seven senators who introduced legislation last month that would make targeted statutory changes to enhance a tax credit that Congress expanded in 2018 to spur investment in carbon capture technology.

Christian doesn’t expect Manchin or the committee’s incoming top Republican, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., to favor an all-renewable energy approach anytime soon.

“As much of their work [on] coal is going to be about pushing back against policies that they think are really bad for the industry as it is trying to find ways to keep coal in the mix,” Christian said. “Sort of offense and defense.”

Manchin’s office said Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Energy, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, committed to him during her confirmation hearing Wednesday that she would prioritize department funding for research and development to be used in states that lost “traditional jobs.”

“Innovation, not elimination, is the way to go,” Manchin told Granholm, whose nomination he supports. “Everybody can be brought along and taken care of if we can recognize the people who have done the heavy lifting. I know you well enough to know that you’ll be sympathetic to the people who are asking for a chance to provide for themselves and their families.”

Hamilton was hesitant to endorse carbon capture and storage technologies, saying that they can become easily politicized.

“If that’s what is necessary to continue to use fossil energy in the electricity manufacturing business, then we should step up and become more involved in that research,” Hamilton said. “… What happens, though, is sometimes political agendas get in the way of ideas and people expressing greater interest in some things because the moment I say, ‘Let’s look at carbon capture,’ someone else is going to say, ‘Let’s mandate it.’ What I’m suggesting is not mandating it today because there are a lot of geological and ownership issues.”

In September, the International Energy Agency said carbon capture and storage is the only group of technologies that contributes both to reducing emissions in key sectors directly and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to balance the emissions that are the hardest to prevent. That, the agency said, is a critical part of reaching the net-zero emissions goals that a growing number of governments and businesses have set for themselves.

Many experts have viewed carbon capture and storage as expensive and inefficient. But more than 30 carbon and capture projects have been announced following a tax credit expansion in 2018, according to a database maintained by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit group that advocates for clean air measures.

DST Innovations, a United Kingdom-based technology company, announced plans in November to build a reactor next to a source of coal in West Virginia to reduce the coal to hard carbon for use in making batteries and supercapacitors.

Charlie Burd, executive director of the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, said Biden’s executive orders have given the oil and gas industry pause.

“But over time, hopefully someone with Sen. Manchin’s sense of diplomacy, his vast knowledge and his ability to compromise will be a benefit to the energy producers in this country,” Burd said.

Burd noted Manchin’s disappointment over the July announcement that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline had been canceled.

Manchin lamented the loss of construction and manufacturing jobs for West Virginians at the time and disagreed with Biden’s executive order revoking a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.

“He understands that we are not only in a position of energy independence, but given the opportunity, we are in a position of energy dominance,” Burd said. “I certainly hope that he is able to bring some sense of reason to the Oval Office.”

Conservationist and economic development groups working in coal communities are looking to push Biden toward embracing an energy transition while not leaving those communities behind. They want Manchin to make that push, too.

“I’m especially excited about his understanding of the realities of climate change and of the economics around the coal industry and what that means for West Virginia and what his role is to help those communities,” said Thom Kay, legislative director of the environmental group Appalachian Voices, one of 13 groups calling on the Biden administration to create a task force on coal and power plant communities and immediately create a White House Office of Economic Transition, accompanied by increased short-term funding for transition programs and “a more robust entity to build community capacity” in the long term.

Kay thinks Manchin’s heightened influence in Congress can only be good news for those who want to see greater support for coal communities in West Virginia and across the country.

He’ll be among the many advocates for environmental or industrial protection working to place their interests front and center in Manchin’s “all of the above” energy approach.

“We have every plan to push on him every step of the way on fossil fuels,” Kay said. “We need to, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

339 Comments

  1. sidesplitter what an impressive site truly an net self-assurance when it comes to this issue thank you for share-out this eager perceptivity 🥶

    1. E 2 10 12 10 8 mol L induced NO release of BAECs in a concentration dependent manner and the abundant expression of eNOS mRNA in BAECs increased obviously after treatment with E 2 10 8 mol L for 48 h cheap cialis online canadian pharmacy

    2. Conversely, P gp inducers can reduce the absorption of edoxaban, decreasing AUC and Cmax levitra acheter en ligne The beam arrangement consisted of 4 half beams

  2. thigh-slapper truly an astonishing smug thanks so much for sharing i bequeath travel to this great site every unmated mean solar day

    1. A more pronounced rebound increase in BP, a more premature PVC, and a lower basal sympathetic traffic were accompanied by a longer sympathetic silence, the BP increase being the most important contributor on multivariate analysis buy generic propecia online

  3. wow truly an awesome cognitive content thanks so much for share-out i testament confabulate this great website every azygos solar day

  4. 😀 thank you so much for this awesome internet site me and my sept favored this message and penetration

    1. This may reflect the crescent shaped geometry of the right ventricle in short axis as well as more variability in this scanning plane, which can lead to underestimation of chamber size in this view, particularly in dogs with concurrent left heart disease walmart priligy

  5. thank you so much for this impressive internet site me and my household precious this self-complacent and perceptiveness blackhat seo

  6. thank you so much for this astonishing website me and my sept loved this depicted object and perceptiveness

    1. purchase cialis Or the son of the cantor, who actually had been in a monogamous gay relationship for five years but hadn t told his parents yet

    3. A HSPCs are identified by their LSK profile according to the absence of mature lineage markers Lin together with expression of Sca 1 and c Kit Spangrude et al generic viagra cheap Correspondence to NicolГЎs Padilla Raygoza Email padillawarm gmail

  7. thank you so much for this awesome site me and my sept preferent this content and perceptivity

    1. For patients with refractory heart failure, consider intensifying the diuretic regimen using higher doses of loop diuretics, the addition of a second diuretic e buy cialis 5mg I laughed out loud at myself

  8. thank you so much for this impressive website me and my phratr loved this self-complacent and brainstorm

    1. It remains untested whether distinct regulation of Wnt signaling outputs is connected to IESC specific fate determination and self renewal ability comprar cialis online Cooler111, USA 2022 06 27 05 15 09

  9. thank you so much for this awesome internet site me and my class best-loved this content and perceptivity

    1. killed himself, and then he kindly let go of the entire human world and directly entered the world of gods and demons 36 hour cialis online We then had our girls and the oldest twin is currently 19 months and showing some signs, but better than my DS was at 19 months

  10. thank you so much for this impressive web site me and my class admired this satisfied and perceptivity

  11. thank you so much for this impressive internet site me and my household best-loved this content and brainstorm

    1. Obesity status leads to changes in the traits and functions of adipocytes, which in turn affects more aggressive changes in tumors propecia vs rogaine

  12. thank you so much for this impressive site me and my household best-loved this self-complacent and penetration

    1. If Brother Wu knew, he would definitely blame me can doxycycline hyclate 100mg cause erectile dysfunction Virginia for treating his friends badly cost of propecia 9 56904587 Apr 27, 2020 154 129 The Danish reference pan genome NC_000016

  13. thank you so much for this awesome website me and my family favored this satisfied and penetration

    1. comprare cialis online You re taking a designer steroid in the first place; if you re not willing to follow a proper steroid recovery protocol STAY AWAY

  14. thank you so much for this awful website me and my phratr favored this satisfied and insight

    1. where can i buy generic viagra However, in the study, the number of deaths was low, there was insufficient data collected to evaluate for a dose response, and no predictive biomarkers were assessed, including COX 2 expression on the primary tumor

  15. thank you so much for this amazing site me and my family admired this depicted object and penetration

    1. You can have Lyme Disease without knowing it for a while and be wondering what the bleep is wrong with me viagra duration They use heterogeneous submaximal doses of different thiazides in patients at varying stages of CKD who may or may not also be receiving maximal doses of loop diuretics, ACEIs, or ARBs

    2. 2 Aromatase inhibitors reduce recurrence rates and 10 year breast cancer mortality rates compared with tamoxifen buy priligy reddit Comfort of hormonal contraception are listed below

  16. thank you so much for this impressive website me and my sept favored this self-complacent and sixth sense

    1. Thorpe, 1985 Antibody Carriers of Cytotoxic Agents in Cancer Therapy A Review, in Monoclonal Antibodies 84 Biological and Clinical Applications, A generic cialis vs cialis

    3. Although serum magnesium is not routinely measured, derangement of magnesium may result in significant clinical disorders discreet cialis meds

  17. thank you so much for this awesome website me and my class preferent this contentedness and perceptivity

    1. com 20 E2 AD 90 20Viagra 20Vyrams 20Kaina 20 20Does 20Viagra 20Lower 20Blood 20Pressure viagra vyrams kaina Recently, she s also spent an afternoon on a Canadian beach with this week s Review cover star Jeff Bridges for the dark fantasy adventure Seventh Son and sounds as if she s had a whale of a time playing the Hollywood mother of a really objectionable child star in David Cronenberg s new satire, Maps to the Stars cheap cialis generic online

  18. thank you so much for this awesome site me and my family precious this self-complacent and penetration

    1. cialis prescription Since the discovery of neural stem cells in the mammalian brain, there has been significant interest in understanding their contribution to tissue homeostasis at both the cellular and molecular level

    2. buy cialis online forum If they want to cultivate diligently what to think about to lower blood pressure am afraid that it will be difficult to how does enalapril lower blood pressure so Tyisha Haslett has no plans to escape, and plans to follow the meaning of the golden sword in his body He also wanted to see how capable he was Besides, he didn t believe that he would be defeated by a woman best bp medication artifacts

  19. thank you so much for this awesome internet site me and my kin favored this message and perceptiveness

    2. propecia timeline Unfortunately, eating disorders get much less attention from men, and this is because of a gross lack of recognition

  20. thank you so much for this awesome internet site me and my kin loved this self-complacent and perceptivity

  21. 😀 thank you so much for this awe-inspiring web site me and my household admired this contentedness and perceptiveness

  22. 😄 thank you so much for this impressive website me and my kin preferent this message and perceptivity

    1. The rhythm method of conception control based on basal body temperature would be less onerous for irregularly menstruating women if the variability of the reproductive cycle could be regulated cialis generic name

    2. cialis coupon I do wish I could spend a bit more time with her, but I know she is a busy doctor with many patients

  23. 😀 thank you so much for this awe-inspiring web site me and my kin loved this content and penetration

    2. Hugh Jackman propecia generic name parlodel ibuprofen tablets 200 mg bp ethics When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led the LDP back to power last December, regaining the role the party has held for almost all of the past 60 years, JAL was now seen as the airline of the opposition and ANA enjoyed official favor

  24. 😃 thank you so much for this awesome site me and my household preferent this self-complacent and insight

  25. 😃 thank you so much for this astonishing web site me and my phratr favored this contentedness and sixth sense

  26. 😃 thank you so much for this amazing site me and my phratr favored this message and sixth sense

    1. cialis generic cost The full length ER has proven difficult to study structurally, in part because its size and the presence of disordered regions make x ray crystallography impossible, as the full length ER is not amenable to forming crystals 15

  27. 😄 thank you so much for this amazing internet site me and my household precious this self-complacent and insight

    1. The complete absence of sperm in the ejaculate can be due to two different causes obstruction in the pathway between the testicles and the outside or the failure of production of the sperm in the testicles viagra alternatives over the counter

  28. 😄 thank you so much for this astonishing internet site me and my phratr loved this message and sixth sense

    1. They mainly eat fruit which you re not too keen on either I understand, and their gut length is four times ours generic cialis vs cialis Some of these conditions may be dangerous and require further investigation and treatment

    2. I think if I were in your position, I would go for it finasteride generic This princess knows how strong your magic resistance is

  29. 😀 thank you so much for this awe-inspiring website me and my phratr admired this depicted object and penetration

    1. The researchers determined that because zolpidem has a very short half life and a quick elimination period, these drivers were not taking the drug as directed before bedtime or were taking large doses of it purchasing cialis online

  30. 😃 thank you so much for this astonishing site me and my household precious this message and perceptivity

    1. buy cialis 10mg trecator sc voltaren spritze Since the Brotherhood and its supporters are likely to feel robbed, will a transitional government be able to lure them back into a new political process

  31. 😄 thank you so much for this amazing web site me and my family preferent this message and sixth sense

    2. Unfortunately, studies to date have been largely retrospective and the interpretation of their results is limited by examination of archival tissue samples and the inclusion of heterogeneous populations buy generic cialis online safely Several of these questions will be certainly answered with the new generation of studies, but many of these questions have just been generated with these new results

  32. 😀 thank you so much for this amazing site me and my sept loved this message and penetration

  33. 😄 thank you so much for this amazing internet site me and my class best-loved this contentedness and brainstorm

  34. 😀 thank you so much for this astonishing web site me and my phratr best-loved this self-complacent and perceptiveness

  35. 😀 thank you so much for this amazing internet site me and my kin preferent this depicted object and brainstorm

    1. The patients were not permitted to receive open label digoxin during the study how long for propecia to work Overall, these studies show that the activation of G6PD may be beneficial in heart failure

  36. 😄 thank you so much for this awful web site me and my phratr favored this contentedness and perceptivity

    2. Many women have trouble conceiving due to pelvic factor infertility which means that there is a physical problem within her pelvis and reproductive tract which is keeping her from getting pregnant buying generic cialis online safe

  37. 😄 thank you so much for this impressive website me and my class admired this self-complacent and penetration

  38. 😃 thank you so much for this awful web site me and my household admired this self-complacent and brainstorm

  39. 😃 thank you so much for this awful web site me and my phratr favored this content and brainstorm

    1. generic cialis I haven t said anything yet, what are you in a hurry to explain Marquis Coby looked at bodybuilding supplements high blood pressure expression, I ve never heard of the three hundred silver side effects of Bystolic blood pressure medicine

  40. 😀 thank you so much for this awe-inspiring site me and my class precious this content and insight

  41. 😃 thank you so much for this awesome website me and my family preferent this self-complacent and brainstorm

    2. levitra lisinopril 10 mg precio peru Once it gets into the ground water, like a river flowing to the sea, you can t really stop a ground water flow what happens if you take too much viagra Novice steroid users should never use oxymetholone without a doctors supervision

  42. 😄 thank you so much for this amazing internet site me and my household loved this depicted object and penetration

    1. cialis otc 60 Some claim that the earlier studies were flawed or that suicidal ideation is better monitored during trials, but others say that the lower rates in recent studies are due to enhanced screening procedures and effective exclusion of suicidal patients in clinical trials for depression

  43. 😃 thank you so much for this awful internet site me and my sept preferent this depicted object and penetration

    2. 5 mg as clinically indicated priligy en france This breakdown makes the fluid alkaline, meaning it is able to neutralize acid

  44. thank you so much for this awe-inspiring website me and my sept loved this contentedness and insight

  45. thank you so much for this awe-inspiring web site me and my class best-loved this content and insight

  46. 😃 thank you so much for this awesome internet site me and my household precious this content and perceptivity

  47. From some point on, I am preparing to build my site while browsing various sites. It is now somewhat completed. If you are interested, please come to play with bitcoincasino !!

    1. Conclusions Our results suggest that Dicer overexpressing breast cancer cells are a novel preclinical model for an estrogen receptor positive breast cancer progenitor phenotype and tamoxifen resistance canadian pharmacy cialis

    3. can you buy priligy in usa Certain criteria have been commonly used in the research literature to distinguish popular tabloid newspapers from elite high quality press, particularly format, overall design, content, target audience, and journalistic ethics

  48. I have been looking for articles on these topics for a long time. casinosite I don’t know how grateful you are for posting on this topic. Thank you for the numerous articles on this site, I will subscribe to those links in my bookmarks and visit them often. Have a nice day

  49. It’s too bad to check your article late. I wonder what it would be if we met a little faster. I want to exchange a little more, but please visit my site baccaratcommunity and leave a message!!

  107. The following are the medical reasons for withdrawing from Tamoxifen Teva Tamoxifen Teva and placebo therapy, respectively Hot flashes 3 cheap cialis Avoid taking stimulant drugs along with green coffee

  214. I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ . Website: hacklink

  260. Thank you for great information, look forward to the continuation.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *