Democratic Governor Joe Manchin and his opponent, former Republican state Senator Russ Weeks agree on the issue of mountaintop removal mining – supporting the practice as long as it's done responsibly. Manchin says he's working with the Department of Environmental Protection on "a very aggressive plan" that states "there will be no disturbance of the land unless you can show, with the post mine land use program, that you'll put the land back better and more productive than what you altered it."
Week’s says coal is the nation’s best energy source and will be well into the future.
"West Virginia is coal, has been coal and West Virginia will continue to be coal - past, present future," said Weeks. "We can't do anything at all right now that's going to alter the fact that most of the tax money that comes to Charleston is generated by what they call mineral extraction and energy production."
October 20, 2008--- Democratic Governor Joe Manchin and his opponent, former Republican state Senator Russ Weeks agree on the issue of mountaintop removal mining – supporting the practice as long as it's done responsibly. Manchin says he's working with the Department of Environmental Protection on "a very aggressive plan" that states "there will be no disturbance of the land unless you can show, with the post mine land use program, that you'll put the land back better and more productive than what you altered it."
Week’s says coal is the nation’s best energy source and will be well into the future.
"West Virginia is coal, has been coal and West Virginia will continue to be coal - past, present future," said Weeks. "We can't do anything at all right now that's going to alter the fact that most of the tax money that comes to Charleston is generated by what they call mineral extraction and energy production."