U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is standing firm on her support for additional funding for Ukraine.

Capito, who spoke on the issue during her weekly virtual media briefing, said the U.S. Senate has received another request for supplemental funding for Ukraine.

“And I think it bears reinforcing to West Virginians and the American public how much deeply I believe that Ukraine winning and beating back Putin is in our best national interest, our best national security interest,” Capito said. “We know the Chinese are watching this very carefully. We know they are gauging what they are doing in their future by what they see us doing. And by providing weaponry to the Ukraine, I think we are supporting a free democracy.”

Some Republicans, including members of the House Freedom Caucus, want to put an end to what they argue is a “blank check for Ukraine.”

However, Capito believes it is still important for the United States to help fund Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.

“We are joined with NATO to do that and I think it is important that we continue also with the accountability and transparency that we should have when you are spending a lot of American dollars,” she said. “I think you can make a tie between Ukraine and Russia and China and Taiwan, and if you are not strong here and you don’t push Putin back, you don’t know what would happen. But I can guarantee you one of the things that would happen is the Chinese would perceive this as a weak United States and then pounce even quicker than they may already pounce on Taiwan, a free and separate nation. So I think this is a critical time in our national security.”

Capito also is firm in her opposition to the Biden administration’s plan to phase out all coal-fired power-plants by 2030, and all natural gas powered plants by 2038, unless they are retrofitted with expensive carbon capture technology.

“This administration is very unrealistic and damaging to our economy,” she said. “When you start looking at how they are going to forward their environmental agenda, the greenhouse gas provisions and regulations that the EPA has put out is a good example. It basically says no coal-fired power plants into the 2030s and no natural gas power plants by 2038 unless you have carbon capture, which is a science that has moved forward but it is not fully vetted and is very, very expensive.”

When faced with the decision of whether to close or retrofit their plants with expensive carbon capture technology, Capito believes most power plant operators will close — putting America and the nation’s electrical grid at extreme risk. Then only wind turbines and solar panels alone wouldn’t be enough to keep the lights on — and heaters on in the winter and air-conditioning units on in the summer — throughout the nation.

“Then you have a huge unemployment disadvantage in large parts of the country, most importantly in a state like West Virginia,” she said.

Capito said the so-called Inflation Reduction Act also places downward pressure on coal and natural gas power plants to close. The Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law with the support of Democrat Joe Manchin, also of West Virginia. Capito opposed it.

In terms of Manchin, Capito was asked about her endorsement of Republican Jim Justice, the current governor of West Virginia, in the Mountain State’s high-profile 2024 U.S. Senate race. Justice and fellow Republican Alex Mooney are vying for the GOP nomination to challenge Manchin in that contest, a race which will help determine which political party controls the U.S. Senate in 2024.

Furthermore, Capito’s son, Delegate Moore Capito, also has endorsed Justice for U.S. Senate. Moore Capito is one of several Republicans competing for the Republican nomination for governor of West Virginia in 2024.

“First of all I would say in terms of our son Moore who is running for governor, he has a mind of his own and I’m not influencing him,” Capito said.

In terms of her endorsement of Jim Justice for U.S. Senate, Capito said she simply believes the Republican governor is the best man for the job.

“I think Gov. Justice will be the best senator,” Capito said. “I’m here in the Senate, and I know what it takes.”