I started this entry and was going to post it after Christmas, but, now is a good a time as any.
By Jonathan Weisman and Lisa Friedman
The version of the bill that passed the House last month devoted $555 billion to shifting the nation to renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar power, and away from fossil fuels like West Virginia coal. Mr. Manchin, who defied gale-force political headwinds in 2010 by running for the Senate on his opposition to President Barack Obama’s climate change legislation, killed a provision in Build Back Better that would have imposed stiff penalties on electric utilities that continued to burn coal and natural gas....
Senator Machin was once governor of West Virginia and it has tainted his ability to place priorities on what is important.
Michael J. Anderson is on the Board of Directors at First Energy in West Virginia. He was also CEO of First Energy before joining the Board (click here). He along with the entire Board of Directors provides Machin with some of his largest donors.
But, that is not all.
I want to portray a state of these magnificent United States that is TRAPPED in the past and never to let go.
The Climate Crisis movement has been an agenda item for a long time. It has been an agenda item for the Democrats from at least 2002-3. I wrote in the "New Source Review" in 2003 that carbon dioxide was a toxic gas when found in large amounts in Earth's troposphere and that Global Warming was real. That leadship after that testimony resulted in the US Senate Chair of the environmental committee to bring about legislation to regulate any effects of carbon dioxide and any other GHG (greenhouse gas) that is forcing change in Earth's climate leading to adverse effects for citizens. The Senator was Barbara Boxer, who we all still miss, but, gave rise to another great Californian, Vice President Harris.
Given that time frame it is easy to say the majority of states in the USA have been moving as they can toward alternative energy sources, such as Solar and Wind. EXCEPT, West Virginia.
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West Virginia's electricity is 88 percent coal fired plants. Coal is followed by Natural Gas/Methane, Motor Gasolines (it is used to generation electricity), Distilate Fuel Oil ( “distillate fuel oil” includes kerosene, kerosene-type jet fuel, diesel fuels (Diesel Fuels No.1, 2 and 4)). West Virginia hasn't even tried to change it's form of energy supply. I mean, you have got to be kidding me. All these fuels used in West Virginia to produce electricity are high offenders of the Climate Crisis, no exceptions. This state is so backward, it has no forward gear anywhere.
Now, as far as wind energy for West Virginia.
West Virginia has a corridor of wind that reaches into the 6.5 category. That is the brick and orange category. We all know that transmission lines have to be updated and the Obama Adminstration provided that guidance when he was in office.
In the topigraphical map below is noted the corridor is the mountain tops. It is easy to say that region is also good for solar. Now, I have been through West Virginia many times and the mountains are signficantly high. Ask any trucker that drives through there on a regular basis. Those mountains also host some of West Virginia's tourist economy. (click here) So, there is always the argument wind mills are unsightly. No more than power lines are and we as a society have accepted their above ground reality for a long time. Power lines also bring electricity to tourists and everyone knows a smart phone is a tourist's best friend for location and safety.
Everyone knows that coal is a huge GHG pollutant. Natural gas is also undesireable but is slightly better than coal in the offense of fossil fuel burning. Ready? I mean like where do you find energy in those mountains except coal? Yes? No.
In 2019, (click here) West Virginia had the third-largest natural gas reserves of any state. It overlies part of the Marcellus Shale area, one of the largest natural gas-producing areas in the nation....
So, I asked myself, where are all the fracking wells? There aren't any that I know of, but, there is a good reason. Everywhere coal exists, coal bed methane exists.
US Geological Survey Report (click here) on coal bed methane in the USA.
There is a problem in West Virginia in that their energy infrastructure is antiquated AND DANGEROUS TO CLIMATE. Better alternatives exist and if West Virginia hired Elon Musk in how to convert energy to GREEN ENERGY for the state he would find a way to bring about a more benevolent energy for West Virginia. Elon Musk is a genius and knows the potential of harnessing energy and has batteries that do the job.
At one point coal was a far cheaper fuel, but, not anymore. Wind is surpassing coal as a far more economical alternative that carries with it morality. If one drives through West Virginia it is difficult to get a radio signal, but, when one finally reaches the in car radio it is usually a program with religious content and that goes for any Rock'n'Roll stations as well. Where is the morality in the energy sector in West Virginia? There isn't any. West Virginia's energy sector is pure unadultered profit driven by cronies to Manchin as old as those mountains. Nothing changes in West Virginia. I mean nothing.
Electricity (click here) routinely flows between the Lower 48 states and, to a lesser extent, between the United States and Canada and Mexico. Electricity generation exceeds electricity consumption in 25 states, and excess electricity is transmitted across state lines—almost 10% of U.S. electricity generation is traded among states. In 2019, California’s net electricity imports were the largest in the country at 70.8 million megawatthours (MWh), or 25% of the state’s total electricity supply. Pennsylvania’s electricity exports were the largest of any state in 2019, at 70.5 million MWh, or 24% of total supply....
The point is there are many, many alternatives for West Virginia to achieve Zero GHG Emissions. There is no excuse for coal fired power plants anymore EXCEPT CORRUPTION. By corruption I mean an unwillingness to change, no matter the reason including crony capitalism.
Cheap costs of living create cheap labor. This is the unwillingness for even governors to change the status quo.
West Virginia is one of the poorest states in this country and the quality of life of residents is far below that of most Americans. There are all kinds of health problems attributed to the coal industry in that state, including exposure of children at school on playgrounds due to wind blown coal dust.
The coal industry DOES NOT support any type of green economy and has been eroding jobs out of the industry as it has become highly mechanized. There are tens of thousands of former coal workers that need retraining and sustainable jobs in West Virginia. The Build Back Better program provides that training and new CLEAN jobs for West Virginia that do not cause health problems. Green jobs do not cause health problems in the workplace and that reduces the cost of health care across the country, including West Virginia.
The Obstructionists in the US Senate are doing it to promote profits for cronies. It is just that simple. The Build Back Better legislation is good for America and will change the danger of GHG to allow a vision for the future of Zero GHG emissions. There is every reason to do this and not one good reason to postpone any of it.
