By David Beard, The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – One message everyone at WVU’s Evolving Energy Conference agreed on Thursday morning was that the energy transition is a tag team effort. Industry makes the actual advances. But government plays a role in terms of regulations, cash and other incentives.
Andrew Robinson, director of Economic Development for Sen. Joe Manchin, said West Virginia is particularly well positioned because it has two senators, from both sides of the aisle, who constantly work together and are well placed in the Senate.
Manchin chairs Energy, Robinson said. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is ranking member of Environment and Public Works. And, unique among the states, both are on Appropriations. Federal funds from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and from the Inflation Reduction Act will help move West Virginia forward in the transition while helping to revitalize hard-hit coal communities with new industrial and job opportunities.
Jacqueline Fidler, vice president for Environmental and Sustainability at CONSOL Energy, talked about several key roles government can and should play. One is offering efficient, streamlined permitting (it wasn’t mentioned at the conference that Manchin’s bill to do just that, the Energy Independence and Security Act, died in the Senate with opposition from both parties)…
To read more: https://www.dominionpost.com/2022/10/06/evolving-energy-conference-panelists-outline-governments-role-in-energy-transition/
