By Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Surrounded by drawers full of drill bits, bolts and pliers, the secretaries of the U.S. Energy and Interior departments, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and an energy-startup executive promised a clean energy future to West Virginians that they could get their hands on.
Officials gathered inside a shared manufacturing space at the Robert C. Byrd Institute at Marshall University to announce plans for an electric battery factory in West Virginia, a battery workforce training initiative and $2.2 million in federal funding for a coal waste-sourced manufacturing project in Bluefield.
The goals, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said, are to break U.S. dependence on China and other countries for minerals needed to build clean energy infrastructure and stabilizing the economic future of those left without jobs amid the energy transition.
“We want to make sure we have this skilled workforce training program to be able to ensure that no worker is left behind,” Granholm said…