Senators will gather Monday in West Virginia to hear about the state’s economic struggles during the coal downturn.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a field hearing Monday afternoon in Morgantown to hear about how upgrades to energy infrastructure could help the state’s economy. Both of West Virginia’s senators, Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, serve on the committee.
Capito said the hearing will be a chance to talk about a pipeline bill she is working on, along with carbon capture and storage credits.
“As domestic energy production increases, West Virginia is an ideal place to highlight why energy infrastructure is critical to both meeting our energy needs and boosting the economy,” Capito told Politico. “Monday’s hearing will be an opportunity to showcase this and hear from experts about a variety of issues.”
West Virginia’s economy has been crawling in recent years because of the decline of coal. That decline has been brought on by the twin hits of President Obama’s environmental regulatory agenda and the increase in natural gas production.
The hearing will come on the heels of Manchin and Capito announcing a $250,000 grant to West Virginia State University to reduce the amount of wastewater used in energy production.
The Department of Energy grant is meant to support research that addresses using plant-based organisms “for energy processes that will use less water and reduce the need for wastewater remediation,” according to a joint statement released by the senators.
“This is crucial for West Virginia to remain competitive in the global marketplace, and I applaud WVSU for their dedication to clean coal technologies and energy security,” Manchin said.
While most of Congress has been away from work campaigning or doing in-district work during the summer break, the field hearing in West Virginia is the latest in the committee’s comparatively busy summer.
Earlier this month, members of the committee met in Sen. Maria Cantwell’s home state of Washington, where the top Democrat on the committee held a hearing on oversight of the Department of Energy. The hearing focused on the department’s ability to respond to energy-related emergencies.
In July, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, held a hearing in his home state to examine how Obama’s propensity for establishing large national monuments affects local economies.
