Maverick Democrat on shaky ground in coal country regarding climate stance

At a pub down the street from Democratic Senator Joe Manchin’s office in the hill town of Fairmont, a group of drinkers debate whether Joe Biden’s campaign for his home state of West Virginia, America’s most coal-dependent state, What the multi-billion dollar climate law means.

“We’re not expecting people to come home with wads of cash in their pockets to help us buy groceries,” said Jonathan Harden, a brewer who has lived in the town for 22 years. “It has moved on.”

“But the mines are still open,” replied a drinker. “Why would you be from West Virginia and sign a document from the White House that says you are against coal mining in West Virginia?”

Manchin spent months blocking Democrats’ efforts to pass a big-ticket climate bill last summer before eventually relenting. The state’s business senator, who was accused by Biden’s top clean energy aide of “single-handedly ruining the planet,” went from steadfastly opposing environmental protection measures to enabling the largest green spending package in US history almost overnight. Gone for

Democrats hope the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes nearly $370 billion in subsidies, could bring a wave of green jobs across America, bringing prosperity to the faltering economies of the country’s depressed Appalachian region.

But shortly after Manchin endorsed the plan, his approval rating in West Virginia – one of the areas most likely to benefit from green spending – dropped.

A Morning Consult poll in October showed that 51 percent of West Virginia voters disapproved of Manchin’s job performance, compared to 38 percent in the second quarter of the year, making him one of the nation’s least popular senators. .

In a Senate hung on extremely narrow margins, Biden could risk losing a valuable seat in 2024. For Democrats, the victory includes persuading West Virginians, who voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in 2020, to back Biden’s big-spending climate bill. Instead of closing coal mines and stalling plans for gas pipelines, they can provide jobs.

“No politician in West Virginia can win statewide office by saying the climate is changing and we need to do something about it,” said Hoppy Kercheval, a longtime radio show host based in Morgantown. “It’s a political non-starter.

“It’s framed as — well, if you believe the climate is changing, and we have green energy, it’s bad for coal, it’s bad for natural gas, all the jobs associated with it. “

Manchin, who has not yet formally confirmed that he will run again, is widely believed to be the only Democrat who could win in the state. He faces a challenge from the wildly popular, billionaire coal-magnate Republican governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, who has announced a Senate run.

Justice, who is rarely seen in public without his pet bulldog, Babydog, called Manchin’s support of Biden’s climate legislation “a real, real screw-up.” Polling released last month found that two out of three voters in West Virginia approve of Justice’s performance, making him one of the most popular governors in the country.

“People are concerned that the government is attacking the coal industry,” said Greg Thomas, a Republican political consultant who worked on Trump’s campaign in the state in 2020. Thomas said. “Democrats hate guns, hate kids and hate coal.”

Manchin’s office declined a request for an interview.

While the Inflation Reduction Act does not contain any provisions that would directly harm the coal industry, the law explicitly supports clean energy alternatives. Democrats worry that voters in West Virginia are not acknowledging the benefits of the law, which has so far driven much of the investment in the state.

Doug Skaff, a Democratic politician from West Virginia, lamented that voters are rejecting green subsidies because they were passed under a Democratic president. “If the IRA had passed under Trump, the people of West Virginia would think it was for the best,” said Skaff. “But because it was passed under Biden — they don’t like it.”

Kercheval suggested that increasing polarization and simplification is making it difficult for the message that the IRA can bring money and jobs to resonate with voters.

“We live in an environment where a lot of politics is bumper stickers,” he said.

“So, IRA, Biden – bad. Green energy stuff – bad. In a state that’s deep red, it’s easier politically to do what Manchin is trying to do, which is to say to the people – ‘Exist here See all the benefits’.

Facing declining popularity and attacks from conservative Republicans, Manchin has sought to distance himself from the climate and green energy portions of the IRA, accusing the Biden administration of “manipulating legislation to advance their radical climate agenda”. has been accused of.

Last month, he appeared on Fox News and threatened to vote to repeal the bill, accusing Biden of breaking a promise to him that the legislation was about “energy security.”

“We have gas. We have oil. We have coal,” Manchin said. “We can do it better than anywhere else in the world.”

Meanwhile, Justice has claimed his share in several projects that have landed in the state since Biden signed the subsidy package, including the $22 million arrival of a Farm Energy battery plant in the historic steel town of Weirton. Battery manufacturing plant of. Next Energy by Precision Castparts Corp. and a $500 million renewables-powered titanium melting plant.

“Republicans like Jim Justice love to criticize the Inflation Reduction Act, but he is the first to cut a ribbon at one of these new job sites or pose for a photo in front of a groundbreaking,” said Mike Pushkin, chairman. Democratic Party in West Virginia.

Jerry Lewis, 83, in the state capital of Charleston said he likes both Manchin and Justice.

“He’s a redneck hillbilly, and that makes it easy for everyone to like him,” he said of Justice. “But the Inflation Reduction Act—that’s a good thing. We have to get out of fossil fuels at some point.”

At a pub down the street from Democratic Senator Joe Manchin’s office in the hill town of Fairmont, a group of drinkers debate whether Joe Biden’s campaign for his home state of West Virginia, America’s most coal-dependent state, What the multi-billion dollar climate law means.

“We’re not expecting people to come home with wads of cash in their pockets to help us buy groceries,” said Jonathan Harden, a brewer who has lived in the town for 22 years. “It has moved on.”

“But the mines are still open,” replied a drinker. “Why would you be from West Virginia and sign a document from the White House that says you are against coal mining in West Virginia?”

Manchin spent months blocking Democrats’ efforts to pass a big-ticket climate bill last summer before eventually relenting. The state’s business senator, who was accused by Biden’s top clean energy aide of “single-handedly ruining the planet,” went from steadfastly opposing environmental protection measures to enabling the largest green spending package in US history almost overnight. Gone for

Democrats hope the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes nearly $370 billion in subsidies, could bring a wave of green jobs across America, bringing prosperity to the faltering economies of the country’s depressed Appalachian region.

But shortly after Manchin endorsed the plan, his approval rating in West Virginia – one of the areas most likely to benefit from green spending – dropped.

A Morning Consult poll in October showed that 51 percent of West Virginia voters disapproved of Manchin’s job performance, compared to 38 percent in the second quarter of the year, making him one of the nation’s least popular senators. .

In a Senate hung on extremely narrow margins, Biden could risk losing a valuable seat in 2024. For Democrats, the victory includes persuading West Virginians, who voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in 2020, to back Biden’s big-spending climate bill. Instead of closing coal mines and stalling plans for gas pipelines, they can provide jobs.

“No politician in West Virginia can win statewide office by saying the climate is changing and we need to do something about it,” said Hoppy Kercheval, a longtime radio show host based in Morgantown. “It’s a political non-starter.

“It’s framed as — well, if you believe the climate is changing, and we have green energy, it’s bad for coal, it’s bad for natural gas, all the jobs associated with it. “

Manchin, who has not yet formally confirmed that he will run again, is widely believed to be the only Democrat who could win in the state. He faces a challenge from the wildly popular, billionaire coal-magnate Republican governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, who has announced a Senate run.

Justice, who is rarely seen in public without his pet bulldog, Babydog, called Manchin’s support of Biden’s climate legislation “a real, real screw-up.” Polling released last month found that two out of three voters in West Virginia approve of Justice’s performance, making him one of the most popular governors in the country.

“People are concerned that the government is attacking the coal industry,” said Greg Thomas, a Republican political consultant who worked on Trump’s campaign in the state in 2020. Thomas said. “Democrats hate guns, hate kids and hate coal.”

Manchin’s office declined a request for an interview.

While the Inflation Reduction Act does not contain any provisions that would directly harm the coal industry, the law explicitly supports clean energy alternatives. Democrats worry that voters in West Virginia are not acknowledging the benefits of the law, which has so far driven much of the investment in the state.

Doug Skaff, a Democratic politician from West Virginia, lamented that voters are rejecting green subsidies because they were passed under a Democratic president. “If the IRA had passed under Trump, the people of West Virginia would think it was for the best,” said Skaff. “But because it was passed under Biden — they don’t like it.”

Kercheval suggested that increasing polarization and simplification is making it difficult for the message that the IRA can bring money and jobs to resonate with voters.

“We live in an environment where a lot of politics is bumper stickers,” he said.

“So, IRA, Biden – bad. Green energy stuff – bad. In a state that’s deep red, it’s easier politically to do what Manchin is trying to do, which is to say to the people – ‘Exist here See all the benefits’.

Facing declining popularity and attacks from conservative Republicans, Manchin has sought to distance himself from the climate and green energy portions of the IRA, accusing the Biden administration of “manipulating legislation to advance their radical climate agenda”. has been accused of.

Last month, he appeared on Fox News and threatened to vote to repeal the bill, accusing Biden of breaking a promise to him that the legislation was about “energy security.”

“We have gas. We have oil. We have coal,” Manchin said. “We can do it better than anywhere else in the world.”

Meanwhile, Justice has claimed his share in several projects that have landed in the state since Biden signed the subsidy package, including the $22 million arrival of a Farm Energy battery plant in the historic steel town of Weirton. Battery manufacturing plant of. Next Energy by Precision Castparts Corp. and a $500 million renewables-powered titanium melting plant.

“Republicans like Jim Justice love to criticize the Inflation Reduction Act, but he is the first to cut a ribbon at one of these new job sites or pose for a photo in front of a groundbreaking,” said Mike Pushkin, chairman. Democratic Party in West Virginia.

Jerry Lewis, 83, in the state capital of Charleston said he likes both Manchin and Justice.

“He’s a redneck hillbilly, and that makes it easy for everyone to like him,” he said of Justice. “But the Inflation Reduction Act—that’s a good thing. We have to get out of fossil fuels at some point.”