Manchin focused on energy issues

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin believes the Inflation Reduction Act puts West Virginia in the ideal situation to offer both fossil fuel energy and clean energy solutions, and he is simply too busy making sure the IRA is properly implemented to worry about his political future.

“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for West Virginia,” Manchin said. “We are fertile ground to finding out what energy policies will work and not jeopardize our energy independence.”

Manchin joined West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee and Marshall University President Brad D. Smith for a lunchtime panel at the fifth annual Focus Forward symposium at the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place. The event is organized by the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative at WVU.

Topics of this year’s Focus Forward symposium include creating an “enabling environment for green energy,”“reimagining energy and fueling innovation in West Virginia,”“preparing tomorrow’s workforce for today’s classrooms,” and accessing federal funding. Speakers included WVU professors, business leaders, educators, and lawmakers.

Speaking prior to Wednesday’s symposium, Manchin said West Virginia is key to providing the nation and the world reliable energy. With Saudi Arabia announcing a slowdown in oil production and Russia controlling natural gas supplies to Western Europe, West Virginia can play a role.

“Reliable energy is what this country has to have. We have to be energy independent if we’re going to be secure,” Manchin said. “We see what happens when someone weaponizes energy. Russia did it to Europe, and Europe was in one hell of a mess. They were able to escape that because the winter was not as brutal as it could have been, and we were able to start getting (liquid natural gas) to them quicker than anyone anticipated.”

Manchin said no to President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better social spending bill at the end of December, concerned about the bill’s price tag and potential to grow inflation and the deficit. But after months of negotiations with Democratic congressional leaders last summer, Manchin came on board for the $737 billion Inflation Reduction Act.

The IRA included $437 billion in spending on new investments in clean energy, climate change mitigation, an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, and funding for western drought resiliency. It also included $300 billion for reduction of the national deficit. Despite its name, most of the attention the IRA receives is for its energy provisions.

“I wrote that bill based on energy security. That’s all,” Manchin said. “We wrote the bill basically for the next 10 years that we will be producing the energy we need from our fossils cleaner and better than any place in the world; that helps the climate by replacing the dirty fossil.”

Manchin pointed to multiple projects happening in West Virginia that are benefiting from the tax breaks and access to federal funding in the IRA. Tax incentives in the bill are paving the way for a clean hydrogen hub. The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, or ARCH2, would take advantage of the state’s access to natural gas supplies and existing infrastructure to manufacture blue hydrogen and store the carbon emissions underground.

“We also believe very strongly that we can manufacture the technologies for the future that’ll help us have the energy supply that we need and do it with less carbon emissions,” Manchin said. “There’s more demand for fossil fuel today than there has ever been in the history of the country, in the world. The demand for energy is going to grow.”

North Carolina-based steel manufacturer Nucor is building a new electric arc furnace in Mason County and seeking access to cleaner energy. Two Berkshire Hathaway companies, BHE Renewables and Precision Castparts Corp., are building a modern titanium melt facility in Jackson County powered by its own solar energy microgrid, the first in the nation.

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