Manchin Advocates For West Virginia Coal Miners In First Senate Climate Hearing

To watch a video of Senator Manchin’s closing remarks, please click here.

To watch a video of Senator Manchin’s questioning, please click here.

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today advocated for West Virginia energy production during the Senate hearing of the 116^th Congress to address the climate crisis. The hearing featured testimony from representatives from the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, NextEra Energy, Rice University Center for Energy Studies, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and Analysis Group, Inc.

“If you’re going to change your energy policy can’t you at least use your credits in states that have lost a tremendous amount of traditional energy jobs,” Senator Manchin said. “If we’re transitioning to a new fuel or energy provider, we can’t leave anyone behind. Because I’ll guarantee you, a coal miner will build you the best darn windmill you’ve ever seen. They’ll build you the best solar panels. They’ve survived underground for hundreds of years, they know what to do. And they’re all experts in their fields. This is what we haven’t done well in these policies.”

Senator Manchin stressed that before we come to reasonable and pragmatic solutions we must first agree to the same set of facts. He questioned each witness about the data sources they rely on in their work. Witnesses cited the U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Agency and Bloomberg New Energy Finance as data sources they rely on.   Senator Manchin also commented on the need for pragmatic solutions to address the climate crisis, specifically U.S. leadership in innovation.  

To watch the hearing in full, please click here.  

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