In The News

Bipartisan legislation recently cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) aims to provide more Americans with life-saving treatment during an opioid overdose by enacting certain liability protections for Good Samaritans. Sen. Capito on April 11 introduced the Samaritan Efforts to Ensure Key Health Emergency and Life-saving Protections (SEEK HELP) Act, S. 4112, alongside bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) to provide protections from prosecution for drug possession to individuals... Read More

A bill that would make the vetting process tougher for rural broadband telecoms trying to get their hands on Federal Communications Commission-provided high-cost subsidies may advance Wednesday if all goes well during committee.It's the second time Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., have introduced the Rural Broadband Protection Act, which they say will help make sure that only carriers who can provide the connectivity rural Americans need can get funding from the... Read More

State officials and energy industry stakeholders are circling the wagons, putting their heads together and trying to determine the best course of action to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recently announced power plant regulations. The new suite of rules, which coal industry advocates say are specifically designed to force coal-fired electrical generation facilities to close down, are likely to face a torrent of legal challenges and could become an important factor in the... Read More

West Virginia is among the first three states to be approved to start accessing millions of federal dollars for broadband expansion. The upshot is West Virginia can soon begin drawing down $1.2 billion to deploy high-speed internet networks for a region where connectivity has been an uphill battle. “This means West Virginia is another step closer to using our $1.2 billion towards efforts to better-connect homes, business and classrooms across the state,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito,... Read More

CHARLESTON — New regulations that could speed up the demise of coal-fired power plants in West Virginia and the nation raised the eyebrows of the state’s two U.S. Senators and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who has taken on federal environmental regulators successfully at the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a new regulation Thursday morning that would require coal-fired power plants to reduce their greenhouse gas emission by 90% by 2039, moving up a... Read More

Elected leaders across Virginia and West Virginia as well as the nation’s capitol spoke out Thursday and denounced new EPA regulations aimed at reducing air emissions by pushing for the closure of coal-fired and gas-fired power plants. The new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric plants are the Biden administration’s latest effort to roll back pollution from the power sector, a contributor to climate change, according to the Associated Press. President Joe Biden has... Read More

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WVDN) – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of both the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Appropriations Committees, and Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, released the below statement regarding the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) approval of the state’s Volume II Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. West Virginia is now the... Read More

West Virginia received great news Thursday as officials learned that the state’s plan for using $1.2 billion allocated for broadband expansion has been approved. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved West Virginia’s Volume II Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. West Virginia now will be able to start drawing down the funding designed to push broadband access further into rural parts of the Mountain State. Much... Read More

CHARLESTON – Nearly one year after the federal government awarded West Virginia more than $1.2 billion for broadband expansion, West Virginia was one of three states whose plan to implement that expansion was approved. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved West Virginia’s Volume II Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Kansas and Nevada’s plans were also approved. Approval of the BEAD plan means West Virginia can... Read More

West Virginia is among the first three states to be approved to start accessing millions of federal dollars for broadband expansion. The upshot is West Virginia can soon begin drawing down $1.2 billion to deploy high-speed internet networks for a region where connectivity has been an uphill battle. “This means West Virginia is another step closer to using our $1.2 billion towards efforts to better-connect homes, business, and classrooms across the state,” said Senator Shelley Moore Capito,... Read More

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today rolled out final rules requiring coal-fired power plants in the United States to reduce 90% of their greenhouse pollution into the next decade, prompting a backlash by political figures in coal-focused West Virginia. The rules would also require all new baseload gas-fired plants control 90% of their carbon pollution. “Pure lunacy,” U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, said on MetroNews’ “Talkline.” Manchin, D-W.Va.,... Read More

CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says he will be challenging a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule he says will force power plants fueled by coal or natural gas to capture smokestack emissions or shut down. “This new rule would strip the states of important discretion while using technologies that don’t work in the real world — so it sets up the plants to fail,” Morrisey said the new EPA rule issued April 25. “These plants, which are an essential part of our... Read More

State and federal leaders in West Virginia spoke out against new rules for power plants that were announced Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said the Biden Administration was more frightened by political threats than any risks to the power grid. He called the action "political" and indicated he expected court challenges would eventually block the rule change. "How could they be so stupid to move down this path knowing the outcome is going to be...sheer... Read More

WASHINGTON (TND) — Several GOP lawmakers flamed the Biden administration Thursday for a “reckless" new initiative focused on clean energy. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday announced four new rules for fossil fuel use. These rules aim to tighten regulations and reduce “dangerous pollution.” Under the new rules, the EPA will force coal power plants to almost completely eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions by 2039. Coal is still used to generate about 18% of electricity... Read More

A new era for Aurora Flight Sciences is officially here. Aurora, a Boeing company, has completed a significant expansion of its site near the North Central West Virginia Airport in Bridgeport. The expansion supports significant growth across both current production programs and new opportunities in the aerospace industry. A ribbon cutting ceremony took place on Wednesday that was attended by a contingent of Aurora executives and employees as well as local and state leaders. The expansion adds... Read More

Elected leaders from West Virginia and other coal-producing states as well as the nation’s capitol on Thursday denounced new Environmental Protection Agency regulations aimed at reducing air emissions by pushing for the closure of coal-fired and gas-fired power plants. New limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric plants are the Biden administration’s most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution from the power sector, the nation’s second-largest... Read More

The Biden administration finalized highly anticipated regulations on Thursday, cracking down on existing and future fossil fuel-fired power plants as part of its sweeping climate agenda. In a joint announcement, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and White House officials said the rules would target all coal-fired power generation and future natural gas power plants. The regulations, according to the officials, will help the nation meet President Biden's goals of decarbonizing the nation's... Read More

BRIDGEPORT — Aurora Flight Sciences will use 50,000 square feet of new manufacturing space to help aerospace take flight in West Virginia. The company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its facility in the Benedum Airport Complex on Wednesday morning. Governor Jim Justice and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito delivered remarks, as did Mike Caimona, the company’s president and CEO. “This is an important facility for Aurora, Boeing and the aerospace industry,” Caimona said. “We manufacture some parts... Read More

West Virginia’s two senators have announced federal funding is coming for a wastewater service project in the town of Davis. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced $5 millionfrom the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to support important upgrades to the Davis wastewater system. “I’m pleased that the EPA is investing $5 million to support vital upgrades to Davis’s wastewater infrastructure,” Manchin said.”This project will help ensure every Davis... Read More

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said in a statement she would soon be introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn what she referred to as "the EPA’s job-killing regulations." The agency on Thursday is rolling out new, aggressive emissions reduction standards for existing coal and new gas plants. Capito and other skeptics on both sides of the aisle have said the rulemaking could lead to higher energy prices and more volatility across the nation's power... Read More