Tag: Joe Biden

Infrastructure Law’s Mine Reclamation Funds To Continue

Under the infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden, West Virginia will receive an extra $140 million a year over 15 years for mine reclamation projects.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act became law three years ago this month. It includes extra help for states to clean up abandoned mine lands.

Sharon Buccino is the principal deputy director of the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, or OSMRE.

Under the infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden, West Virginia will receive an extra $140 million a year over 15 years for mine reclamation projects.

A new administration will take office in January. Buccino says the funding will continue to come to West Virginia and other states, unless Congress decides to change that.

“Congress could subsequently act to undo or change what they did previously,” she said, “but until they do that, the direction and the money has already been provided to OSMRE to implement the laws that exist now.”

West Virginia alone has 173,000 acres of mine land that was abandoned before 1977. Only one state, Pennsylvania has more. The Abandoned Mine Land program, or AML, helps clean up the pollution from those sites, eliminates threats to public safety and restores the land for productive use, often recreation.

It also helps create jobs for workers displaced from coal mining.

Buccino cites another purpose for AML projects: Finding the raw materials needed to build batteries.

“It’s acid mine drainage treatment, where actually the acid mine drainage is being mined for potential critical mineral recovery,” she said. “So that’s Deckers Creek near Morgantown, West Virginia, the Richard Mine acid mine drainage.”

Buccino says the AML program helps communities diversify their economies in a way that makes most sense for them.

“The beauty of the program is that it doesn’t force a certain transition,” she said, “but it gives the resources and support to communities to define that transition and to define that future for themselves, and then actually there’s money available to deliver on that vision.

If nothing changes, West Virginia and other states will continue to receive the infrastructure law’s supplemental AML funding for another 12 years.

Capito Rises In Republican Senate Ranks To No. 4 Position

On Wednesday, Capito was elected chair of the Republican Policy Committee, the No. 4 spot on the party’s leadership team.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito has moved up the leadership ladder in the Senate.

On Wednesday, Capito was elected chair of the Republican Policy Committee, the No. 4 spot on the party’s leadership team.

Republican senators also elected their new majority leader, John Thune of South Dakota. He succeeds Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Capito will become chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee. That committee authorizes road and bridge and water and wastewater infrastructure projects.

It also approves the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Capito has expressed interest in rolling back a number of Biden administration regulations.

Capito will become West Virginia’s senior senator in January after Sen. Joe Manchin departs.

Republicans were able to regain control of the majority from the Democrats due in part to the election last week of Gov. Jim Justice to succeed Manchin, who’s retiring.

State Democrats Say They Support Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris has been gaining support among national and statewide leaders in the Democratic party. West Virginia Democratic Legislators are widely accepting Harris as the top contender for the party’s nomination. 

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, the chairman of the state Democratic Party, says the party has been revitalized since Biden stepped down, and Harris took the lead for the Democratic nomination for U.S. President. 

“I think that President Biden is a true leader and he showed it by stepping away from power and in doing so he endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris,” Pushkin said. 

He said when the country elected Biden as president, they also elected Harris as next-in-charge. 

“She is incredibly competent and capable of fulfilling the role as president and that’s why she has my support 100 percent,” Pushkin said. 

Harris brought in the largest one day of donations in the 2024 election cycle so far, something Pushkin said shows how galvanized the party and the public are behind her. 

Del. Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, said he thinks Harris is the best choice moving forward for Democrats. 

“I think she would be a strong candidate and I am pleased that she would be on the ticket and I hope she would pick a solid vice president who would round out the ticket,” Rowe said. 

He said he is hoping that if she wins the nomination she will pick someone outside of Washington D.C. like a state governor or Joe Manchin. Manchin, 76, has said he would not consider being Harris’s vice president, saying this year’s ticket is part of a new generation.

Both Pushkin and Rowe signaled they would like to see a Vice President from Appalachia or Appalachia adjacent. 

Rowe says it would be good to have someone who understands the needs of the people in this region, and bring some economic opportunities to the region as well.

W.Va. Voters React To Biden Decision And Martinsburg Dancer To Join Touring Cast Of ‘Hamilton,’ This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, President Joe Biden stepped away from his bid for a second term on Sunday and has now endorsed his vice president and running mate Kamala Harris. Briana Heaney spoke with West Virginia voters about how this decision affects what they will decide to do in November.

On this West Virginia Morning, President Joe Biden stepped away from his bid for a second term on Sunday and has now endorsed his vice president and running mate Kamala Harris. Briana Heaney spoke with West Virginia voters about how this decision affects what they will decide to do in November.

Also, in this show, Martinsburg native Sabrina Harrison grew up dancing at a local studio. She took that passion for dance with her into college, and now into a full-time career in New York City. Next month, Harrison will join the touring cast for the musical Hamilton, and she’ll be dancing on stages across the United States.

Eastern Panhandle Reporter Jack Walker spoke with Harrison to discuss her upbringing in West Virginia and her career so far.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Emily Rice produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Voters React To Biden’s Decision

Many voters planning on voting for Trump or another candidate say their plans for November have not changed. Some voters who were planning on supporting Biden say they will support whoever takes his place. 

President Joe Biden stepped away from his bid for a second term on Sunday and has now endorsed his Vice President and running mate Kamala Harris. 

Many voters planning on voting for Trump or another candidate say their plans for November have not changed. Some voters who were planning on supporting Biden say they will support whoever takes his place. 

But some voters are considering a new course of action. Like Evan Bondurant, who says he wants to see someone younger take the nomination. 

“It does kind of, I guess change what I was gonna do in November,” Bondurant said. 

He said he was concerned for Biden’s age and considered straying from the two major parties and voting for an independent candidate. 

“Now that he’s dropping out of a race, it makes me maybe a little bit more likely to maybe vote for whoever they replace him with,” Bondurant said. 

Tiffany Palmer on the other hand, said she was not planning on voting for a Democrat. 

“I think he needed to drop out of the race, and it makes it a little more fair for Democrats,” Palmer said. 

Palmer said she could be swayed. She thinks it will be Harris, because of her knowledge of the presidency, her endorsements, and access to campaign funds. 

“I’m not a big Kamala fan either,” she said “but I’m looking forward to seeing who she might pick as her running mate.”

David Smith, a self-identified Republican, said he was happy to hear the news that Biden was stepping down. His wife Wanda Smith said she was not so happy. 

“They’ll put Kamala Harris in there. And she’s even worse. Or Miss Obama. Or Clinton. It scares me,” Wanda Smith said. “They’re pushing women. And to be honest with you, I don’t think it’s time for a woman.” 

Time is of the essence for Democrats with the Democratic National Convention a month away, and the general election is three months away. 

Where Is Harris On Energy? As Vice President, Close To Biden

As vice president, she moderated her views. Not only does the Biden administration not oppose fracking or offshore drilling, the United States is the leading producer of oil and gas in the world.

The increasing likelihood that Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the Democrats’ White House ticket this fall brings her energy policy positions into renewed focus.

During her brief stint as a 2020 presidential candidate, then-Sen. Kamala Harris was a sponsor of the Green New Deal. She opposed hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and offshore drilling.

As vice president, she moderated her views. Not only does the Biden administration not oppose fracking or offshore drilling, the United States is the leading producer of oil and gas in the world.

The Biden-Harris administration did enact one of the most significant climate and energy policies in a generation, the Inflation Reduction Act.

It contains federal tax incentives for energy investment in traditional fossil fuel communities, including those in West Virginia and Appalachia.

While nowhere as ambitious as the Green New Deal, the legislation did set the nation on a path to transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewables in an effort to slow climate change.

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