An editorial from The Exponent Telegram
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — For a state that is reeling from the loss of more than 11,000 coal mining jobs, plus thousands more in support industries, the promise of more than 18,000 jobs tied to the construction of six interstate gas pipelines is the last hope for prosperity for a generation of Mountain State residents.
Yet once again it appears as though the Obama administration with its job-killing, pro-environmental agenda that first targeted coal is now dragging its feet on development of Marcellus natural gas.
It’s evidently not enough that carbon emissions have dropped 10 percent in the last decade as America’s power plants have made the conversion to gas — resulting in gas replacing coal as America’s primary energy source. Current carbon emissions are at their lowest point in 50 years, multiple sources report.
Preliminary or final plans for the construction of six pipelines, with much of them to run through West Virginia, have been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the federal body responsible for oversight of interstate pipeline projects.
All are awaiting approval…