Sen. Joe Manchin Comes Through On Green Jobs For West Virginia

[appalachiablue]

Daily Kos, Feb. 2, 2021.

Joe Manchin is not a Progressive’s favorite Senator, and in fact is often considered the most conservative Democratic Senator. For example, he has recently called for Biden’s $15 minimum wage proposal to be reduced to $11/hour. I’d like to see that justified in terms of a living wage for working Americans; honestly, I’m convinced that 15 is too little and that will soon become evident.

But this is a post about something positive, which is Manchin’s bill to promote Green jobs in his state (and my birth state) of West Virginia. Special thanks to Kos writer Meteor Blades for bringing this to our attention in Earth Matters. Here is the original article in timeswv.com. Manchin, working with MI Senator Debbie Stabenow (from my other home state), is calling for a $4bn tax credit for areas hardest hit by coal mine closures, to create new Green jobs. Manchin says:

“A 48C tax credit simply does this; $4 billion will be directed to the coal fields of America —most of them in West Virginia where the coal mines have been closed down — where coal fire planting has been shut down, where the economy has been destroyed… “



- Senator Manchin is the new chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The article adds, paraphrasing Manchin, that “if the Biden administration is going to be pulled into the direction of a ‘green energy’ policy, he wants to ensure those workers from the coal fields will have a seat at the table.” That seems only fair. It is fair, and if you ask Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Markey, who have been promoting the Green New Deal since 2019, restructuring the economy with Green Jobs starts where people have been and will be most impacted by the changeover from fossil fuels to renewables. West Virginia, under that definition, should be Green Jobs Central.

Manchin is the new chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. I admit I had my reservations about this; it’s based seniority and Manchin has been in the Senate forever. In that strictly political sense he’s “earned” the chair position, but if he succeeds in creating a mass of Green Jobs in the heart of poor, mostly white America we may owe him a debt of deep gratitude. There may be no surer way to put a halt to trumpist white-grievance politics and bring these people fully on board with the Climate Justice movement.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/2/2/2013635/-Joe-Manchin-comes-through-on-Green-jobs
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Original article: 'Manchin: We Should Be Building The Green Economy In West Virginia,' Times WV, Jan. 31, 2021.
https://www.timeswv.com/news/local_news/manchin-we-should-be-building-the-green-economy-in-west-virginia/article_c8946e82-633e-11eb-9348-bb8280ba2a0d.html