Manchin Wants Energy Independence for State by 2030 {WV}

The State Journal ^ | November 2, 2006 | Beth Gorczyca-Ryan

[thackney]

Gov. Joe Manchin has a goal for West Virginia.

By 2030, he wants West Virginia to become the first state in the nation to be completely energy independent. That means no foreign oil in cars, airplanes and trucks, and it means a greater emphasis on conservation by all state residents and businesses.

It's a daunting goal, and he wants the first step toward the goal completed by January 2007.

Last week, Manchin told members of the state's Public Energy Authority that by the new year he wants a blueprint for how the state might accomplish true energy independence.

"No specific deadline is in place, but he would like to get them working on it quickly," said Lara Ramsburg, the governor's spokeswoman.

The blueprint wouldn't specifically outline what the governor's energy plan for the next several decades would be. Instead, members of the governor's staff and people affiliated with the Energy Authority say the blueprint would outline what kinds of regulations may need to be changed, what kind of incentives are needed and whether new legislation needs to be drafted.

"The Public Energy Authority will work with the Development Office to look at what information is already out there and what additional information the PEA needs," said Joe Ward, Manchin's deputy counsel.

It's no secret that Manchin would like West Virginia to lead the nation in this area. He's talked about it in speeches and, as chairman of the Southern States Energy Board, has come up with a proposal for all states in the group to look for energy independence as well.

"With this, he's just calling on West Virginia to do its part and come up with a plan so it can be completely independent by 2030," Ward said.

West Virginia is not alone. Gary Garrett, senior technical advisor with the Southern States Energy Board, said North Carolina, Florida and Kentucky recently either started on or completed new energy plans.

In West Virginia, Stephanie Timmermeyer, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, said conservation, reduced consumption and looking even more at alternative sources such as solar and wind power will be critical to any plan that is developed.

First and foremost, Timmermeyer called for reduced consumption.

Transportation is another huge issue. All one has to do is look at any road at any time in West Virginia to see that the state and the nation as a whole are very much dependent on oil just to get us from Point A to Point B. While there are cars with hybrid engines tooling around, the large majority of vehicles on the road use good, old-fashioned gasoline to get their internal combustion engines revving.

And in any given year, West Virginia uses 1.1 billion barrels of imported oil just to feed its need.

So how can West Virginia wean itself from that?

Both Timmermeyer and Garrett said the state needs to continue looking at coal gasification and liquefaction. If a plant like that were to open within the state, it not only could create a new set of jobs for workers, but it also could create a locally produced and controlled energy source.

The technology to do those types of projects has been around since the 1940s in Germany, and it is used in South Africa. But so far, not one liquefaction plant exists in the U.S.

That's something Manchin would like to change. He sees West Virginia as a prime place for a coal liquefaction plant. And officials from the DEP and Development Office already have visited coal gasification plants in Tennessee and North Dakota.

"Liquefaction is the next step after gasification," Timmermeyer said. "To us, one of the easiest answers for being energy independent is for coal liquefaction."

[brownsfan]

" "No specific deadline is in place, but he would like to get them working on it quickly," said Lara Ramsburg, the governor's spokeswoman. "


Deadlines, even arbitrary deadlines, are critical. People work with deadlines. If it's open ended, the effort isn't there. Stick with the 2030 deadline and push it.

This is great, this is what the national leadership should be pushing. Remember the goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade? Let's get energy independent, then we can sit back and watch a bunch of poor muslims kill each other, (as opposed to killing us).

[CPT Clay]

Through conseration?

[sticker]

They must be working on a way to harness byrd's hot air

[Roccus]

Can't see any popularity for hybrids here in the Mountain State.

[Mike Darancette]

IF WV would allow coal fired automobiles they would be in great shape.