Tag: Shelley Moore Capito

Feds Approve State To Issue Permits For Carbon Storage Wells

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week approved West Virginia’s application to permit what are known as Class VI wells.

This will enable the injection and underground storage of carbon dioxide captured from power plants that burn coal and natural gas as well as other carbon-intensive industries.

Carbon capture and storage could help power plants that burn fossil fuels meet new EPA limits on carbon dioxide emissions. Those rules have been challenged in court, and the incoming Trump administration has pledged to roll them back.

Still, West Virginia’s senior U.S. Senator, Shelley Moore Capito, said in a statement that the permitting approval would help protect the state’s baseload power. 

“I have frequently said that the states are better suited than Washington to carry out this authority and get these projects up and running,” she said. “Those on the ground, who understand their states best, are far better positioned to make these decisions, and it’s past time that West Virginia finally has this ability.”

Capito took the gavel last week as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Nearly 90% of West Virginia’s electricity is generated by coal, and at least one large-scale natural gas power plant is planned with carbon capture and storage.

Capito Gavels In Senate Committee With A Gift From Democrats

Capito led her first hearing Thursday in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito took the gavel as a committee chair Thursday, and it was no ordinary gavel.

Capito led her first hearing Thursday in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The panel took up the nomination of former New York Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin for administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

After Capito made her opening remarks, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the senior Democrat on the committee, presented her with a gavel made in Wheeling in 1956 with wood from the old West Virginia statehouse.

“It was part of the estate of Hulett Smith, who was governor from 1964 to 1968, and also was the predecessor to my father, so I thought that was a very considerate, bipartisan effort on Sheldon Whitehouse,” Capito said.

Capito’s father, Arch Moore, succeeded Smith as governor. Capito became the committee’s chair after Republicans won a 53-seat majority in the Senate.

After Delay, Jim Justice Formally Sworn Into US Senate

New U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., took his oath of office on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon.

After two terms as West Virginia’s governor, Jim Justice has officially traded the State Capitol for Capitol Hill, taking his oath of office for the United States Senate Tuesday afternoon.

Most incoming U.S. senators were sworn in Jan. 3. But Justice delayed his ceremony until West Virginia’s new governor, Patrick Morrisey, took office, saying he wanted to ensure a seamless transition in leadership.

Morrisey, a Republican, was inaugurated in Charleston on Monday. Justice was formally sworn in just one day later by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chamber’s president pro tempore.

A Republican, Justice was elected to the U.S. Senate by a significant majority of West Virginia voters in November. He succeeds outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent who announced he would not seek reelection in November 2023.

With Manchin’s departure, West Virginia’s other U.S. senator, Republican Shelley Moore Capito, becomes the state’s senior representative in the upper chamber of Congress. Capito was present at Justice’s swearing-in ceremony Tuesday, standing beside him as he took his oath of office.

U.S. senators are elected to serve six-year terms, meaning Justice is slated to hold office until 2031.

Local Healthcare Advocates Ask U.S. Senators To Reject RFK Jr.’s Nomination

Local health care advocates asked Senator Shelley Moore Capito and incoming Senator Jim Justice to vote against President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of health and human services, RFK Jr.

Local healthcare advocates asked Senator Shelley Moore Capito and incoming Senator Jim Justice to vote against President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of health and human services, Robert Kennedy, Jr. 

According to Protect Our Care West Virginia, more than 600,000 West Virginia residents rely on at least one federal program for health insurance coverage.

On Friday morning healthcare advocates hosted a virtual discussion opposing Kennedy’s nomination as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary.

They argue he is not qualified for this position, has “radical views” on vaccinations and has not taken a position on Medicare, Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act.

“It is more important than ever that we protect Medicaid, the ACA, Medicare and CHIP,” said Rhonda Rogombe, health policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. “Instead of looking for ways to cut those programs, our leaders should be looking for ways to flex the power they have so that people can be as healthy as possible.”

Neither Capito’s nor Justice’s offices responded to a request for comment on whether they’d support Kennedy’s confirmation.

‘We Want Them’: Capito Supports Efforts To Build A Data Center

Last week, state lawmakers spoke of convening a special session to pass an incentive package for a company interested in providing power for a data center in southern West Virginia.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said her office has been involved in an effort to bring a data center to Logan County.

The country is experiencing a boom in data centers, driven by artificial intelligence (AI).

Last week, state lawmakers spoke of convening a special session to pass an incentive package for a company interested in providing power for a data center in southern West Virginia.

The special session fell through. But in a call Thursday with statewide media, Capito said her office is involved in landing the project and is supporting the state-level efforts.

“We want them in West Virginia,” she said. “They are massive investments, billions of dollars of investments, and they’re going to be exceedingly necessary if we as a country are going to win the race to capitalize on AI and what it could do, but also to run these enormous companies.”

Another hangup for lawmakers may have been the source of the power for the data center.

Companies such as Google, Microsoft and Meta typically seek carbon-free power from renewables or nuclear to reach their corporate net-zero goals.

But southern West Virginia is coal country, and the state is a major gas producer. Capito said there may be a role for all of those resources.

“The appetite for power is going to be so huge,” she said. “Everyone’s going to win here.”

The U.S. Department of Energy forecasts a 15 percent to 20 percent increase in electricity demand with the rise in AI, new manufacturing and electrification of vehicles and buildings.

The Electric Power Research Institute estimates data centers alone could consume 9 percent of U.S. electricity in 2030, more than double what they consumed last year.

Capito will have a bigger role next year in shaping the policy around the growth in electricity demand as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

First Generation Students, Flood Mitigation Funding and Folklife In This West Virginia Week

On this West Virginia Week, we’ll look at flooding funding, we talk to Gayle Manchin, and we’ll delve into efforts to support first generation students.

On this West Virginia Week, we’ll look at the history of plans to address flooding without funding. We’ll talk to Appalachian Regional Commission co-chair Gayle Manchin about the commission’s accomplishments. And we’ll delve into Marshall University’s efforts to support first generation students in their pursuit for higher education.

We’ll also hear from the state’s Senate delegation on Joe Manchin’s retirement. And we’ll hear more about updates to PEIA, as well as some lawsuits against local ordinances and pollution.

Chris Schulz 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, Caelan Bailey, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick, Maria Young and Randy Yohe.
Learn more about West Virginia Week.

Exit mobile version