West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is failing his state’s cash cow.
Environment & Energy reports,
Oil, check. Natural gas, check. Offshore drilling, shale, wind, solar and fracking, check.
What happened to coal and nuclear power?
In last year’s State of the Union address, President Obama said, “Some folks want wind and solar. Others want nuclear, clean coal and natural gas. To meet this goal, we will need them all.” This time around, while he called for an “all of the above” strategy, Obama touted almost every form of energy except two.
Industry and environmental officials joined in the speculation yesterday on what, if anything, the omissions might mean. Some greens welcomed the exclusion, while coal backers went on the offensive, asserting the country’s continued reliance on the fuel. Nuclear boosters largely downplayed the speech, saying it likely did not signal a change in the administration’s support.
The absence drew a quick response from Steve Miller, CEO of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
“It is inconceivable that we can reach our shared national goals of creating jobs, rebuilding U.S. manufacturing and keeping energy affordable for our families and businesses, without domestically produced coal playing a central role,” Miller said.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) echoed Miller in a statement of his own. “I still have a hard time understanding how you can have a comprehensive energy plan in America without coal,” Manchin said, “when coal produces nearly 50 percent of our energy and knowing that new technologies can make it much cleaner.” [Emphasis added]
This is not even good hot air from Manchin. Coal is already clean and carbon capture and storage has already failed in West Virginia.
Read Steve Milloy’s charleton Daily Mail op-ed, “Who does Joe play for in the Senate?”