By Charles Young, WV News
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Talk about the potential of nuclear power and other strategies for diversifying the state’s energy generation portfolio has taken up much of this year’s session of the West Virginia Legislature.
Despite a renewed focus on renewable sources of energy, representatives of the coal and oil and gas industries say they have remained busy representing their respective sectors and advocating on behalf of their workers.
“There’s not been a lot of issues directly impacting the coal industry, but there’s been a lot of energy industry issues that have been moving through the process,” said Chris Hamilton, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. “Everything from nuclear to rare earth elements to carbon sequestration issues.”
All bills relating to energy generation in West Virginia — even those that don’t appear to have a direct connection to coal or coal mining — can have implications for the coal industry, Hamilton said…
