West Virginia has had one long history of selling valuable natural resources and public lands to commercial interests. When the dust settles from these transactions and they can be viewed without the hyped rhetoric of the moment, we often conclude that the price has been ridiculously low and the damage to our natural heritage catastrophic. […]
Representatives from a dozen West Virginia environmental groups convened in Morgantown on September 24 and 25, 2022 for a discussion of the proper strategy for the movement over the next few years. The Summit was convened by the West Virginia Environmental Council. The keynote speaker was the nationally known climate advocate Mary Anne Hitt, a […]
Because of population loss, West Virginia’s three Congressional districts have been consolidated into two. The new 2nd District covers roughly the northern half of the state and pits two incumbent Republican Congressmen against one another in the primary on May 10. David McKinley, from Wheeling, is the sitting Congressman from the old 1st District. Alex […]
The West Virginia Legislature ended its 2022 regular session at midnight March 12, 2022. Altogether, the Legislature passed 293 bills. Sixty-two bills introduced were energy or environment related. Only 8 of them passed. Some of the unsuccessful bills we opposed. Many more we supported. Energy Policy There was a lot of long-range thinking about the […]
In an effort to capitalize on the natural gas contained in the Utica and Marcellus shale formations in West Virginia, Equitrans Midstream Corp. is constructing the Mountain Valley Pipeline running through eleven West Virginia counties and Southeastern Virginia. Equitrans and the pipeline’s other owners hope to provide up to 2 billion cubic feet of gas […]
Changes sought by industry to the DEP rules regarding water quality standards for human consumption were passed by the Legislature on February 10. The DEP incorporated the changes into the proposed rules as “a compromise” between the views of industry and environmental groups, but the measure was opposed strongly by West Virginia Rivers, the chief […]
In response to a research project being conducted at West Virginia University, the House of Delegates passed HB 4098 on February 10, 2022. This bill sets up a regulatory structure for geothermal energy in the state. Geothermal energy is the Earth’s heat reached by drilling wells several miles deep. WVU has acquired a $7.25 million […]
In a fast-tracked process resulting in the passage of SB 4 by the West Virginia Legislature, the state no longer has any statutory guidance on how to evaluate an application to build a nuclear power plant. The repeal bill was signed by the Governor on February 8, 2022. The repealed statute — WV Code 16-27A-2 […]
In 2014, a leak from an aboveground storage tank on the Elk River just above the drinking water intake for Charleston and much of Kanawha County polluted drinking water for 300,000 consumers. As a result the West Virginia Legislature passed the Aboveground Storage Tank Act imposing strict safety and inspection rules on such tanks. Almost […]
Conservation West Virginia is not opposed to nuclear power, which might solve a lot of our climate problems. We hope it will continue to be explored. On January 21, 2022, the West Virginia House Energy Committee passed out a bill for consideration by the full House (HB 2882) that would repeal the current law governing […]
