On this West Virginia Week, Gov. Jim Justice made multiple announcements during a Monday event. The governor said West Virginia residents could soon see their income taxes go down further because the state collected $826 million more in revenue than had been budgeted for this fiscal year.
On this West Virginia Week, Gov. Jim Justice made multiple announcements during a Monday event. The governor said West Virginia residents could soon see their income taxes go down further because the state collected $826 million more in revenue than had been budgeted for this fiscal year.
Justice also said he plans to call another special session of the state’s legislature in the coming months to cut an additional 5 percent from the state’s personal income tax and pass a childcare tax credit.
Plus, we’ll hear about the expansion of the Hope Scholarship and how West Virginians can track their vaccination status during a summer surge of COVID-19.
Emily Rice is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.
West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick and Maria Young.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joined 15 other states seeking to lift the ban by claiming the White House doesn’t have the authority to enforce it.
A federal judge has sided with West Virginia’s attorney general on new approvals for exporting liquefied natural gas.
In an ongoing policy debate between environmentalists and those who support fossil fuel production, the U.S. District Court in Western Louisiana lifted the Biden administration’s pause on new LNG export approvals Monday.
The policy – halting permits for new export terminals – was announced in January. Soon after, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joined 15 other states seeking to lift the ban by claiming the White House doesn’t have the authority to enforce it.
“This administration’s Energy Department has no such authority to justify this ban – authority on matters like this lies with Congress and Congress alone,” Morrisey said in a statement.
Energy analysts say additional U.S. export terminals aren’t needed to supply those regions.
Five terminals are under construction and would double the nation’s current LNG export capacity – 12 billion cubic feet a day – by the end of the decade.
Europe was the biggest customer of U.S. LNG last year as the continent continues a shift that started with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
About 66 percent of U.S. LNG exports went to European countries, primarily the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.
Asia was the second biggest market for U.S. LNG at 26 percent. Japan and South Korea were the largest importers.
Australia and Qatar trailed the United States, with about 10 billion cubic feet of LNG exported from each. Further down were Russia and Malaysia, each with less than 5 billion cubic feet.
West Virginia, the fourth largest U.S. producer of natural gas, produced 3 trillion cubic feet in 2023, according to the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia. Some of it was exported as LNG through the Cove Point terminal in southern Maryland.
The state’s gas industry expects the mid-year opening of the controversial and delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline, which will have a capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has sharply increased gas production in the Appalachian Basin in the past 15 years.
On this West Virginia Week, spring has sprung! We’ll look at patching potholes, how babies learn to sleep, what’s changed in health care four years since the COVID-19 pandemic and more.
On this West Virginia Week, spring has sprung! We’ll look at patching potholes, how babies learn to sleep and what’s changed in health care four years since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Plus, we’ll discuss the largest single renewable power project in the state, a lawsuit filed by environmental groups against the U.S. EPA, new developments in an opioid court case and a dispute between creditors of Gov. Jim Justice.
Finally, we’ll hear what two experts have to say about President Joe Biden’s pause on new permits for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals.
Curtis Tate is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.
West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick and Randy Yohe.
On this West Virginia Morning, a recent decision by the Biden administration to suspend permitting for new export terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has drawn criticism from West Virginia lawmakers. To hear what impact the decision has on United States LNG exports, Curtis Tate spoke with Sam Reynolds and Ana Maria Jaller-Markarewicz of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
On this West Virginia Morning, a recent decision by the Biden administration to suspend permitting for new export terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has drawn criticism from West Virginia lawmakers. To hear what impact the decision has on United States LNG exports, Curtis Tate spoke with Sam Reynolds and Ana Maria Jaller-Markarewicz of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Also, in this show, the U.S. has seen a huge buildout in plants using fossil fuels to make plastics over the last decade. A new report finds those plants routinely break environmental laws, even though they receive major subsidies from taxpayers. The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports Shell’s ethane cracker in Beaver County, Pennsylvania was given over $1 billion in tax breaks yet violated its air pollution permit even before opening.
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.
Eric Douglas is our news director and producer.
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
On this episode of The Legislature Today, Randy Yohe sits down with Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, and Broadband Consultant Charlie Dennie to broadband connectivity for West Virginians.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, and other members of the upper chamber held a press conference to discuss the recent pause on new permits for liquefied natural gas exports. Briana Heaney has the story.
In the House, the House Committee on Energy and Manufacturing discussed a bill that would prevent publicly sourced air pollution data from being used in lawsuits and regulatory proceedings.
Also, in the House, a resolution regarding a constitutional amendment over a woman’s reproductive rights is under consideration.
In the Senate, the Senate Education Committee quickly moved along five bills, many of which updated existing educational programs. One bill would add another university to the list of eligible institutions for the Promise Scholarship. Chris Schulz has more.
And, the full Senate approved and sent one bill to the House. It would permit wineries to serve wine without serving food, and it would also permit wine to be served at festivals. The Senate advanced eight other bills. Two of these bills, if passed without amendments, will head to the governor’s desk. Briana Heaney has more.
Advocates from across the state gathered at the state capitol Thursday to bring attention to sexual violence. Emily Rice has the story.
Finally, in meeting the plan to have broadband connectivity for all of West Virginia within five years, there are progress and time markers that must be met to get all the $1.2 billion federal dollars to complete the work. Randy Yohe sits down with Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, and Broadband Consultant Charlie Dennie to talk about meeting those markers.
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The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.
Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
