According to Bloomberg’s Bureau of National Affairs, he told an audience at the West Virginia University College of Law that the state needed to work with the EPA to minimise job losses, and make coal-fired plants cleaner and more efficient.
“I am willing to accept that EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act,” Manchin reportedly said. “But EPA needs to work with us, not against us.”
Some of the solutions he reportedly discussed included co-firing of coal plants with biomass, allowing then to fuel-switching to natural gas and increasing the use of renewable energy such as wind energy.
Meanwhile, WV governor Earl Ray Tomblin was not encouraged by his meeting with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Monday.
“We understand the importance of environmental stewardship and are committed to preserving our state’s beauty for generations to enjoy,” Tomblin said.
“We also understand the importance of a hard day’s work, but up to this point, I believe there has not been sufficient consideration of the real life adverse consequences of economically unfeasible greenhouse gas regulations on West Virginia and many other states.
“An unreasonable regulatory structure could destabilize our once reliable power grid, increase energy costs to vulnerable ratepayers, further burden industrial employers, and devastate coal mining families and communities.”
The EPA aims to propose the Clean Air Act-related emissions standards by June.
