By Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia proponents of a federal infrastructure package that will address the climate crisis are urging passage as negotiations between the White House and Senate Republicans near what could be a make-or-break moment.
The West Virginia Climate Alliance, a coalition of 18 environmental, faith-based, civil rights and civic organizations, called on U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Tuesday evening to support President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan that the group said takes essential steps to address global warming.
The coalition wrote letters to Capito, lead negotiator for Senate Republicans in infrastructure talks, and Manchin, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman, calling for billions of federal dollars in investment in West Virginia to aid the state in transitioning to a low-carbon economy.
“This is West Virginia’s chance to create thousands of jobs and get a hand up in developing new energy jobs,” West Virginia Rivers Coalition Executive Director Angie Rosser said in a Tuesday evening press release…