WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today released the following statement regarding President Trump’s energy infrastructure executive order:
 
“Political games are preventing West Virginia energy from being sent to places that need it. The United States is energy rich, and we should make it easier to use energy resources produced in West Virginia to meet demand across America. We should also facilitate coal and LNG exports to promote West Virginia jobs. Earlier this year, I sent EPA Administrator Wheeler a letter voicing my concern with certain states blocking natural gas pipelines for political reasons, and I have worked hard to end the previous administration’s War on Coal. So glad to see the president once again asserting American leadership in energy today.
 
“I’m also pleased to see the president’s executive order directs a study on the growth of the Appalachian energy sector and particularly the potential to grow our petrochemical industry downstream of an ethane hub. I’ve said time and time again that a regional ethane storage hub would do a lot to benefit West Virginia. This logical follow-up to the study I authorized, and which the Department of Energy has completed, on the viability of the hub is another affirmation that it’s an idea worth pursuing.”

BACKGROUND 
 
On October 4, 2018, Senator Capito, EPW Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and Senators Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), sent a letter to then-Acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler regarding implementation of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. In the letter, the senators asked Acting Administrator Wheeler to provide implementation direction to federal agencies regarding Section 401, in light of abuses by certain states. The executive order directly responds to this letter by tasking EPA with leadership over Section 401 reform. Read the full letter here. During a July 2017 visit to West Virginia at the invitation of Senator Capito, she introduced Secretary Perry to the concept of the regional storage hub and has since championed this initiative.

 

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