Dec 27 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Charles Owens Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.


Although it could still be weeks before the U.S. Senate takes up the topic of climate change, U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller is promising that West Virginia will have a voice in the debate.

"I just think it is crazy for environmental people to say we can have all of the electricity we want without coal," Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said during a telephone interview last week with the Daily Telegraph. "So West Virginia I think needs to be at the table."

Rockefeller said he is continuing to weigh the issue of cap and trade and climate change. He believes climate change legislation is inevitable. If the legislation isn't passed, Rockefeller said the Environmental Protection Agency will be able to impose its own climate change rules with the backing of the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I don't think that 80 percent of the Congress, or 90 percent of the Congress, can really explain to you what cap and trade means," Rockefeller said. "On the other hand, we are going to write a bill. That is inevitable. That is going to happen. I want West Virginia at the table. I am convinced through carbon capture and sequestration storage that we can make coal so clean -- given the time we need -- and that is why I'm not for 2020 and 17 percent. Give us the time we need to get the technology right and deploy it into commercial power plants which Congress will then come in and fund. Give us a chance to make our coal clean like AEP is doing."

Rockefeller said more than half of America's electricity is still generated by coal.

"The water tables are rising in the world," Rockefeller said. "I understand that. I know there is going to be a bill."

When discussing the ongoing debate over current mountaintop removal permits, Rockefeller is quick to point out two success stories in our region -- Mount View High School and the new $232 million federal prison project, both of which are located in McDowell County and at former mining sites.

"That prison is going to employ a lot of people, and bring new hope to the people of McDowell County, and it will be permanent and federal," Rockefeller said. "I've been through it. It's just amazing. And there it is on top of a mountain."

-- Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com

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