James Van Nostrand Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Senate Hearing on Clean Power Plan Held in Southen W.Va.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito led a Senate hearing in southern West Virginia today focused on the local impacts of the Clean Power Plan. The Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee meeting took place at Chief Logan Conference Center in southern West Virginia. Capito is the subcommittee chairwoman. She was joined by Sen. Joe Manchin and U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins.

The meeting addressed regulations stalled in court that put limits on each state’s carbon output. Many West Virginia officials oppose them because the regulations increase stress on the coal industry.

“We cannot support rules that cause massive loss of jobs and income in already depressed, rural communities like southern West Virginia,” Eugene Trisko, council for the United Mine Workers of America testified. “We need instead a major infusion of research and development capital both federal and private to lower the costs of carbon capture technologies so that coal can continue to play a vital role in baseload power generation.”

At the hearing, Wayne County Commissioner and former County Clerk Robert Pasley painted a picture of the tough realities southern West Virginian counties especially face given the downturn in coal severance taxes as the coal industry has continued to decline.

“We did give $50,000 to our volunteer fire department for an ambulance for our people,” Pasley said. “We had a program where we had two police cruisers replaced every year for our sheriff’s department. This will be the third year that we haven’t been able to do that. We’re going to be in critical need before long. Capital building projects, senior citizen programs, utilities, economic development, and many other worthwhile projects were part of this coal severance that we no longer have.”

Politicians also heard emotional testimony from local coal miner Jimmy Dale “Bo” Copley II:

“Our family’s faith in God is our provider has allowed us to carry on with our everyday life. Our god is able to bring his people through any circumstance. We believe that West Virginians’ unwavering faith in God is what will separate us from those who mean to do us harm. ”

James Van Nostrand, professor and director of the West Virginia University College of Law’s Center for Energy and Sustainable Development also spoke. Extending the “war on coal” metaphor, he spoke about the artillery being waged against the coal industry. Van Nostrand likened cheap natural gas and other economic forces to an aircraft carrier. Whereas the Clean Power Plan is a much less significant weapon…

Eugene M. Trisko, Counsel to United Mine Workers of America; Wayne County Commission President Robert E. Pasley; coal miner Jimmy Dale “Bo” Copley II; Karan Ireland, West Virginia Solar United Neighborhoods Program Director; and West Virginia University law professor James M. Van Nostrand.

“In terms of its impact, it’s something like a shoulder-fired rocket launcher,” he said, “a tool to be deployed in minor skirmishes – but it’s not going to win a war.”

Van Nostrand said leaders in the state should be more focused on the energy revolution that’s underway, and stressed that there is hope for economic revitalization even if coal will likely play a smaller overall role in the state’s economy.

Senate Hearing to Discuss Carbon Limits Scheduled in Logan

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito will lead a Senate hearing in southern West Virginia about the Clean Power Plan.

The Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee meeting will be Wednesday afternoon at Chief Logan Conference Center. Capito is the subcommittee chairwoman.

The meeting will address regulations stalled in court that limit carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants to stem climate change. Many West Virginia officials oppose them because they target coal.

Republicans are inviting Eugene Trisko, United Mine Workers of America counsel; local coal miner Jimmy Dale “Bo” Copley II; and Wayne County Commission President Robert Pasley.

Democrats are inviting Karen Ireland, West Virginia Solar United Neighborhoods Program Director, and James M. Van Nostrand, professor and director of the West Virginia University College of Law’s Center for Energy and Sustainable Development.

Panel Discusses Clean Power Plan in Wheeling

The Appalachian Institute at Wheeling Jesuit University hosted a panel discussion this week about the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. The new rule seeks to reduce carbon emissions in the US by 37 percent by 2030 as compared to 2005 levels.

The Appalachian Institute hosted the panel discussion titled “Speaking Truth to Power” at Wheeling Jesuit University. It’s one of several events designed to generate understanding about controversial and consequential matters in the state.

“We want to give community chance to really learn what the plan is about, it’s potential impacts and also possible solutions,” said director of the Appalachian Institute, Beth Collins.

Panelist: James Van Nostrand

The panel discussion was included the associate professor of law at West Virginia University, and director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development, James Van Nostrand. He’s worked in recent years to explore viable scenarios in which West Virginia could comply with proposed federal guidelines.

“We haven’t done the analysis to figure out how we’re going to get to 37 percent,” Van Nostrand said, “but based on our analysis of the proposed rule, it’s doable. It’s going to cause disruption. The coal plants that we have are going to run less because we need to have lower carbon emissions.”

Van Nostrand ran through possible reactions to the rule, which include litigation, legislation, retaliation, or (as Van Nostrand was apt to encourage) innovation.

“We have the resources to scale up energy efficiency, scale up co-firing with coal, scale up combined heat and power. It can be done, but it’s going to be a different future.”

Van Nostrand talked about this week’s announcement by Governor Tomblin that West Virginia would be creating a compliance plan as opposed to simply retaliating with a “just say no” stance to the carbon regulations.

Panelist: David Greene

A retired coal miner and author of Unfit to Be a Slave, David Greene, was the other panelist. He spoke about community coping mechanisms in the face of economic change. He said now more than ever community members need to be critical thinkers, questioning all sources of information and decision makers.

“A Greek playwright Euripides said, ‘question everything, and answer nothing.’” Greene said. “I’m not sure you have to answer nothing, but I think questioning everything is a good starting point.”

Greene said being armed with knowledge of history, business realities, and the concerns of your neighbors are key to navigating paths forward in light of a major economic shift like the one we’re seeing in the energy sector.

“People can learn what they need to; they have perceptions, heart and soul,” Greene reflected. “We can remake the world, but we really need a lot of people.”

Senator Capito Holds Field Hearing in Beckley on Clean Power Plan

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, held a field hearing this week in Beckley, regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan. The carbon pollution standards are the first of their kind and aim is to reduce carbon emissions 30 percent nationwide by reducing carbon pollution from power plants. Senator Capito held a hearing in southern West Virginia where tightening regulations might be felt most acutely.

Representatives

Sen. Capito and U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins, both Republicans, expressed grave concern for West Virginia’s economic future in light of the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan.

“We’re going to hear the voices of West Virginians on the devastating impact of the regulation of our fellow West Virginians, because we know we receive 95 percent of our power from coal-fired power plants,” Capito said.

Capito pointed to recent announcements that three more coal-fired plants in West Virginia are scheduled to close in the coming months, blaming the closures on the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxins rule.

Rep. Jenkins also spoke about the economic perils of scaling back coal-fired power in West Virginia.

“Coal is an abundant resource in America,” Jenkins said, “Why are we forsaking one of our largest sources of affordable energy to put ourselves at an economic disadvantage?”

Witnesses

Witnesses who discussed the negative economic impacts of proposed carbon regulations in Appalachia included an attorney for the United Mine Workers of America, Eugene Trisko.

“This regulation is a neutron bomb,” said Trisko during his prepared statement.

President of Appalachian Power, Charles Patton, and a local businessman Chuck Farmer also testified that an increasingly difficult business climate is making life tougher for rate payers and employees.

Literally and figuratively on the other side of the aisle sat the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Senior Energy Analyst, and West Virginia native, Jeremy Richardson.

“92 percent of our coal reserves must stay in the ground to give us any hope of avoiding the worst consequences of climate change,” Richardson said.

"What I'm here to tell you today is that [climate change] is a clear and present danger to not only this country but to countries around the world." – Jeremy Richardson, Union of Concerned Scientists' Senior Energy Analyst, son of a West Virginia coal miner

“Thankfully West Virginia has many assets that it can leverage to diversify its economy,” Richardson said. “But we must let go of the idea that coal is all we’ve got.”

Along with Richardson, Director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at WVU College of Law, James Van Nostrand testified about inevitable changes we face both here and around the globe. He said West Virginia needs to take a more proactive stance legislatively in dealing with this challenging reality, if we hope to mitigate the economic impacts.

Four Ways West Virginia Can Reduce CO2 Emissions

Can West Virginia reduce CO2 emissions? The short answer, according to a new report, is yes. Will West Virginia reduce CO2 emissions? That’s another question…

The report is called Carbon Dioxide Emission Reduction Opportunities for the West Virginia Power Sector. It was spun out of an annual conference on anticipated rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, Rule 111(d). An environmental consulting firm based in Morgantown, Downstream Strategies, teamed with the WVU Law Center for Energy & Sustainable Development to come up with ideas to help West Virginia meet EPA-proposed greenhouse gas reduction goals by 2030.

One of the authors of the report and the founding director of WVU’s Center for Energy & Sustainable Development, James Van Nostrand, said state policy makers might be too focused on only one method to reduce emissions that’s referred to as the “inside the fence” approach (i.e., emission reduction measures taken to make power plants themselves more efficient). There are other measures that need as much if not more consideration, Van Nostrand said.

Energy Efficiency Resource Standard

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) publishes state rankings in energy efficiency. West Virginia ranks 46th, indicating that there’s a lot of potential to improve energy efficiency in the state. An Energy Efficiency Resource Standard would require state utilities to provide more efficiency programs.

Natural gas

West Virginia’s first natural gas power plant is scheduled to begin construction in Moundsville in 2015, and begin generating power in 2018. So far, it’s the only one…

An energy portfolio that includes binding renewable energy targets

West Virginia’s current Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (AREPS) can be met entirely with fossil fuels (e.g. coal ben methane, natural gas, coal gasification). That means renewable sources (e.g. solar panels, solar thermal, wind, biomass) are non-binding renewable energy targets. That could be changed.

Integrated Resource Planning

West Virginia’s Legislature passed H.B. 2803 in 2014, which requires state utilities to engage in “integrated resource planning,” i.e., a process to evaluate supply and demand resource alternatives that will meet projected power demand (considering conservation and energy efficiency) so that customers receive adequate, reliable, and low-cost services. The Public Service Commission must issue an order by March 31, 2015.

Three Years Late?

“How much electricity are we going to need? How much electricity are we going to have to produce to meet that need?” Those are the questions Bill Howley hopes policy-makers begin with.

Howley has been researching and reporting about electricity issues in West Virginia since 2005. In his blog, The Power Line, he says the suggestions Downstream Strategies and the WVU Law Center on Sustainable Development could help the state … if the report came out three years ago.

Howley explained that while other states move toward renewable sources and natural gas power plants, West Virginia’s Public Service Commission made a renewed and significant investment in coal-fired power plants that may have locked West Virginians into a 30-year obligation to consume power from those sources.

The Commission approved shifts in ownership of a couple major coal-fired power plants three years ago, Howley said, and when they did, they promised companies such as American Electric Power and FirstEnergy certain rates to maintain operation costs and profits. He said any policy that impacts profits significantly will certainly draw retaliation.

Tag. You’re It.

With little wiggle room to tackle such a big issue like improving energy efficiency, how will the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection or the Legislature approach reducing CO2 emissions?

Policy analysts like Howley and Ted Boettner with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy predict they probably just won’t.

After all … during recent public hearings on proposed Clean Power Plan regulations, Senior Policy Advisor for the DEP, Tom Clarke, said “on behalf of all West Virginians … the EPA’s proposal should be withdrawn and its attempt to regulate CO2 … should be abandoned.”

Still, folks like James Van Nostrand and Jeff Simcoe remain dedicated to exploring options and making those possibilities known to policy makers. Follow-up reports are promised in the conclusions of this most recent publication.