Sen. Joe Manchin chastised the EPA on Wednesday for mandating power facilities to decrease carbon emissions without mentioning that the agency’s policies could jeopardise his personal income.
The West Virginia Democrat has threatened to oppose President Joe Biden’s EPA nominees because the agency’s proposed rules on Thursday might force coal and gas-fired power stations “out of existence,” he claims.
The threat to one plant in particular might jeopardise Manchin’s lucrative source of income. Enersystems Inc., his family’s firm, transports waste coal to the Grant Town power station, a financially ailing coal facility near Manchin’s hometown that he has spent much of his political career defending.
Grant Town’s plant has regularly threatened to close. With the publication of EPA rules that are expected to force many power plants to install costly technology to trap carbon emissions before they escape into the atmosphere, the facility faces an increasingly problematic future. Many coal facilities may close rather than comply with the new climate requirements.
“This will make it more difficult for them to stay.” “You won’t find anywhere in the rule that this is supposed to put coal plants out of business, but just do the math,” said Brian Murray, director of Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability.
According to financial disclosure papers submitted with the Senate, Manchin made $537,000 from Enersystems last year. Since being elected to the Senate in 2010, he has been paid more than $5 million by the corporation. The Grant Town plant is the primary receiving site for coal from Manchin’s family business. Joe Manchin IV, Manchin’s son, now runs Enersystems.
Manchin and Grant Town spokespeople did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
In a 221-word statement released Wednesday, Manchin, who faces a strong Republican candidate with significant ties to the coal industry in next year’s race, expressed fury at the Biden administration’s “extreme ideology” in targeting fossil fuel carbon emissions.
“This Administration is determined to advance its radical climate agenda and has made clear that they are hellbent on doing everything in their power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence, no matter the cost to energy security and reliability,” Manchin stated.
The Grant Town plant produces 80 megawatts of power, making it one of West Virginia’s smaller facilities and the only one that continues to burn waste coal, a mixture of mud and minerals that is sometimes found dumped around old mines. Coal ash is a high-carbon fuel.
The Grant Town factory has long been threatened by environmental rules.
In 2021, Richard Halloran, the president of the plant’s operator, Grant Town Holdings Corp., stated in court that he intended to use the facility to power cryptocurrency mining in order to diversify its revenue stream. He cautioned that the scheme, which he regarded as a financial lifeline for the faltering factory, was fraught with danger due to the volatile nature of Bitcoin.
“This provides us with less protection against anti-fossil fuel (coal) sentiment, legislation, and taxation, but we will fight this battle as hard as we can,” Halloran said.
West Virginia, which still derives over 90% of its electricity from coal, is an exception in the United States. Many states, like New York, have abandoned coal totally in favour of natural gas and renewables.
This information was initially published in E&E News’ Climatewire. E&E News provides more thorough and in-depth reporting on the energy transition, natural resources, climate change, and other topics.
