In his annual State of the State Address, delivered Wednesday, January 13, 2010 before a joint session of the West Virginia Legislature, Gov. Joe Manchin discussed the importance of coal to the state, today and in the future.
Following are the Governor’s comments:
“West Virginia will play an increasingly important role in our nation's energy future.
“West Virginia ranks second in the nation in exporting electricity, and most of our coal and natural gas is sent out of state.
“2009 was a tough year for coal. Despite the fact that half of our nation's electricity is generated by coal, and that our national economy depends on this abundant, reliable and affordable energy, some want to villainize this resource that helped us win two world wars and built the greatest country in the world.
“We must continue to stand up for our coal miners and their families! We are not asking for a handout. All we're asking for is the permission to work!
“We are reaching new and better ways to use our coal. There is a balance to be had between our economy and our environment and West Virginia is leading the way in finding that balance.
“Our alternative and renewable energy portfolio requires one-fourth of the energy used in our state to come from alternative or renewable energy sources by the year 2025. A progressive law such as this is already paying off.
“We have more than 1,000 megawatts of wind power in service or in development -- that's enough to power more than 250,000 homes! And we have the third-largest wind capacity of any eastern state.
“The world's first successful carbon capture and sequestration project is at AEP's Mountaineer Power Plant in Mason County, and an advanced pilot project is capturing CO2 at the Dow Chemical plant in South Charleston.
“These pilot projects will lead the way for implementation of this technology at coal-fired power plants around the world.
“Plans are moving ahead on a coal-to-liquids project in Mingo County that will use state-of-the-art cleaner coal technology. Through this technology, West Virginia coal will be our primary energy source as we make the transition to the fuels of the future.”