July 22, 2024 - On the site of a former steel plant in the heart of coal country last year, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice proudly signed a bill steering state funds toward Form Energy’s plans to construct a new battery manufacturing facility. The project was largely enabled with federal incentives and tax credits from President Biden’s climate-friendly Inflation Reduction Act. On a cool February afternoon, with his ubiquitous English bulldog sitting nearby, Justice said, “This technology here is unbelievable. That’s all there is to it. It’s our job to embrace and it’s our job to move forward in every way.”

More than 18 months later, construction is almost complete, and the emerging plant was recently praised by the state’s junior senator, Shelly Moore Capito, who called it a “great investment” while visiting the site in Weirton, West Virginia, earlier this month.

Justice is currently running for the U.S. Senate, where his likely victory could help flip the Senate to the GOP. He has made a priority out of repealing many of the IRA’s clean-energy incentives—such as those that helped fund Form Energy’s battery plants in West Virginia and other states. Justice and Capito, both Republicans, have criticized the state’s retiring senator, Joe Manchin, for supporting the act, with Justice calling it “a bad, bad move.”

The disconnect reflects a larger divide in a state where the climate crisis is fueling more powerful rainstorms and dangerous heat waves and residents are increasingly supportive of renewable energy projects. The state’s political leadership has, however, steadfastly resisted efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and introduce incentives to speed the transition to renewable energy sources.

“A lot of these politicians opposing IRA, they show up for the ribbon-cutting ceremonies for projects funded by the initiative,” said Gary Zuckett, the executive director of WV Civic Action Group, a public policy advocacy group. He said it’s not clear if that hypocrisy is evident to West Virginia voters.

No Ceasefires in the War on Coal

The “war on coal,” a catch phrase conservatives began using during the Obama administration, may seem like an outdated conflict, but it’s still being fiercely fought in the rolling hills of West Virginia—especially during an election season that could determine the state’s political leadership for years to come and shape the country’s climate future.

West Virginia is particularly vulnerable to climate change because so many of its inhabitants live in flood zones, but its proud residents are also some of the nation’s most resistant to the concept of climate change. An estimated 59% of adults in West Virginia believe in global warming, the lowest percentage of any state in the country and substantially below the national average of 72%, according to a survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

That could be due to a long line of political leaders who have denied the reality of climate change and the state’s fierce allegiance to one of its dominant industries—coal mining. Though production has fallen by half in the past two decades, West Virginia is still the second-largest coal-producing state, as well as the fourth-largest producer of natural gas. 

At the same time, 82% of the state’s voters in a recent survey by Embold Research said that they believe renewable energy will have a positive impact, with 83% expressing concern that the state’s lawmakers will block development of clean energy sources such as solar and wind.

The dangers of climate change are “starting to sink in for sure because you’re seeing it on the weather report on the news,” Zuckett said. “The weather is going crazy and it’s clear the climate is changing. But it’s not clear how that translates at the ballot box in November.”

Indeed, the political leadership in the state seems poised to become even more conservative and fossil fuel-friendly. Justice, a coal mining baron, is running to replace Manchin, who, though criticized by environmentalists for his coziness with fossil fuel interests (he was the U.S. Senate’s leading recipient of oil, gas and coal money in the 2022 election cycle), was also a chief backer of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Leading West Virginia’s governor’s race is current Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. He sued the Environmental Protection Agency in May over a plan to curb emissions at facilities that impact neighboring states and has touted himself as the most pro-coal and pro-Trump candidate in the state. His opponent, Huntington Mayor Steve Wiliams, has expressed support for renewable sources such as wind and solar, as well as for natural gas and coal.

While the Senate race could impact federal policy, the governor has the most critical role when it comes to the state’s energy policy—which currently favors coal and natural gas. That includes oversight of environmental regulations that could impact the fossil fuel industry, such as whether to enforce rules requiring companies to clean up land polluted by coal mines that have shut down.

Yet there are some clean-energy candidates running and gaining some attention. Justice’s challengers include another mayor, Glenn Elliott, whose city of Wheeling has benefited from federal infrastructure funds. He has expressed concerns about climate change causing extreme weather such as punishing rainstorms in the state and has said a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy is inevitable. Further left is a progressive candidate, Zach Shrewsbury, a Marine Corps vet who was recently profiled in The New Yorker and has strongly pushed for an energy transition that involves job growth and a prioritization of renewable energy sources. 

And running for the state Legislature is schoolteacher Tiffany Clemins. Her district, McDowell County in the western area of the state, was once the heart of coal country but has lost many residents with the closure of mines. She envisions a future for the region that is built on tourism, which requires clean air and water and easy access. Ironically, a recent expansion of the King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway could help bring in more visitors to enjoy the natural scenery.

Winning over the state’s residents to a clean-energy future requires more than just an attack on fossil fuels, but also “a positive argument that we want to continue to be an energy state—one that transitions to solar and wind,” said Zuckett, cautioning that “it will be a long-term project.”