June 3, 2017 - West Virginia Senate candidate Bo Copley said he believes the United States can come up with a better plan to foster clean energy than the one the Paris climate agreement proposed.

"I think we have the technology and the resources available to make things cleaner and to do a better job than what we were, and I think that's one of the reasons why President Trump backed out of the agreement," Copley told Jenna Lee on "America's News HQ."

The unemployed coal miner plans to challenge Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin if he gets the Republican nomination.

Copley enjoyed fifteen minutes of fame during the campaign season when he showed Hillary Clinton a picture of his family and asked her about plans to cut coal mining jobs.

The Republican Senate candidate said he was glad President Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris deal, and that it shows the president is taking care of the people he made promises to.

He now proposes that the United States self-regulate, maintain its current energy sources, and not let the rest of the world tell us how to do so.

"While we do have other energy sources available, coal is paramount to West Virginia and the people here," he explained.

Copley expressed confidence in the United States' powers of innovation, and said the priority at the moment is to put "coal back in the forefront."

He also shared that said he felt he had a calling from God to run for the Senate and prayed with his wife for some time about the decision. He added that there are not enough Christian people running for office to choose from.