Governor Earl Ray Tomblin promised to “aggressively pursue” the state’s lawsuit against the Obama Administration’s efforts to regulate the state’s mining industry out of business.
In his State of the State Address last week, Tomblin said he wants to nearly double the state Division of Energy's budget. He proposes increasing the agency’s budget by $200,000 from its current total operating budget of just $300,000.
The 2010 legislation aims to "make West Virginia a player in the national energy discussion" by raising the division's profile and expanding its range, said Sen. Brooks McCabe. The Kanawha County Democrat was the measure's lead sponsor.
Coal has a "short-term as well as an intermediate if not long-term role in the nation's energy policy," McCabe said. Besides reinforcing the importance of coal and natural gas, the measure encourages the division to promote the development of renewable energy sources from a rural state's perspective.
The eight-person Division of Energy receives federal funding to push renewable energy, but nothing for coal, gas and other fossil fuels, director Jeff Herholdt said. "There seems to be a different focus out of D.C."