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HOW WILL WV FARE WITH STIMULUS? |
| (01/30/2009) |
| The US Senate is now considering an $825 billion stimulus plan President Barack Obama wants to finance infrastructure projects and create jobs in an effort to boost the nation's sagging economy. How will WV fare with the stimulus package? West Virginians wouldn't have much of a clue, if it wasn't for the Charleston Daily Mail issuing an FOIA with Gov. Joe Manchin's office to get the state's $2 billion list. Coal, roads, bridges, prisons, schools, water and sewage projects appear to be big winners. Manchin, for whatever reason, decided to keep the requests secret. Sen. Bob Byrd, D-WV, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has said in the package is $4.6 billion for clean-coal technology. While "clean coal" has been touted as part of the nation's movement toward cleaner fossil fuel, there is currently no such technology available. "Clean, carbon-neutral coal can be a 'green' energy," Byrd said. "As Congress strives to develop a national energy policy that will break our dependence on foreign oil, it is crucial to ensure that coal, burned in cleaner more efficient ways, is part of our nation's diverse energy mix for the future. These investments will help to bolster West Virginia's economic future," he said. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, said he supported tax incentives for the expansion of broadband to the economic recovery legislation. Despite wide-spread political proclamations, the US is lagging in access to high-speed Internet, including most rural areas of West Virginia. "Keeping people connected to the world around them is a vital part of making our economy stronger," Rockefeller said.
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