Legislature in Second Week - Governor Makes 6th State of the State
The Legislature opened on the 13th and, as of Friday, there were more than 1,200 bills before the body. These are a combination of bills that carried over from last year’s Session that did not pass (House only), as well as new bills introduced this year. A report is being prepared that will include brief descriptions of bills relevant to the industry and their committee references.
In his 2010 State-of-the-State Address, Governor Manchin referenced the challenges currently confronting coal mining in West Virginia and encouraged those in Washington to allow our people to work. Excerpts of his speech are shown below:
…“As we grow into new technologies and business sectors, we must still support the traditional industries that have helped build our state and make this nation great.
West Virginia will play an increasingly important role in our nation’s energy future.
West Virginia ranks second in the nation in exporting electricity, and most of our coal and natural gas is sent out of state.
2009 was a tough year for coal. Despite the fact that half of our nation’s electricity is generated by coal, and that our national economy depends on this abundant, reliable and affordable energy, some want to villianize this resource that helped us win two world wars and built the greatest country in the world.
We must continue to stand up for our coal miners and their families! We are not asking for a handout. All we're asking for is the permission to work!
We are reaching new and better ways to use our coal. There is a balance to be had between our economy and our environment and West Virginia is leading the way in finding that balance.
Our alternative and renewable energy portfolio requires one-fourth of the energy used in our state to come from alternative or renewable energy sources by the year 2025. A progressive law such as this is already paying off.
We have more than 1,000 megawatts of wind power in service or in development – that’s enough to power more than 250,000 homes! And we have the third-largest wind capacity of any eastern state.
The world’s first successful carbon capture and sequestration project is at AEP’s Mountaineer Power Plant in Mason County, and an advanced pilot project is capturing CO2 at the Dow Chemical plant in South Charleston.
These pilot projects will lead the way for implementation of this technology at coal-fired power plants around the world.
Plans are moving ahead on a coal-to-liquids project in Mingo County that will use state-of-heart cleaner coal technology. Through this technology, West Virginia coal will be our primary energy source as we make the transition to the fuels of the future.
We are advancing wood and coal co-firing plants as part of our energy mix and virtually all of our state’s hydropower capacity is being used. And, with new ways to recover massive natural gas reserves from the Marcellus Shale, we are poised to power our nation for the next century.
Last year, we also passed a post-mining land use bill that requires surface mine operators to have a plan for how the land they want to mine will be restored. Those plans include highways, industrial parks, schools, recreation facilities, farms and other renewable and alternative energy projects.
