Sen. Joe Manchin: ‘The Coal Industry Has To Be Saved’
West Virginia | August 20, 2021
In a notable break with progressives, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said in an interview that the coal industry “will be saved, has to be saved, because the country can’t survive without it.”
Others in the Democratic Party have asserted that the coal industry contributes to global warming and that it should be replaced with other sources of “clean” energy like wind turbines, solar panels, and alternative, low-to-zero emission fuels. Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) budget resolution includes provisions to encourage green energy sources and to discourage traditional energy sources. In 2016, then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton threatened to put the coal industry “out of business.”
Manchin has long been castigated by some progressives for his moderate policy positions. This defense of the coal industry is his latest break with the left wing of his party.
However, the West Virginia Democrat’s defense of the coal industry is not surprising. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, coal is the energy source for a staggering majority of electricity generation in his state… (Excerpts from the Epoch Times)