HOUSE RESOLUTION 18
(By Delegates Linville, Maynard, Paynter, Dean, Haynes, Cooper, Kessinger, Fast, Hott, Rohrbach, D. Jeffries, Anderson, Barnhart, Booth, Conley, Crouse, Doyle, Ellington, Ferrell, Foster, Gearheart, Holstein, Honaker, Horst, J. Kelly, Kimble, Kimes, Longanacre, Mallow, Mandt, Martin, Nestor, Rowan, Rowe, Smith, Statler, Storch, Sypolt, G. Ward, Williams, and Worrell)
[March 7, 2022]
A resolution encouraging the additional supply of West Virginia coal to Europe.
Whereas, Russia has committed a crime of aggression by invading Ukraine and seeking to expand its borders through offensive military action; and
Whereas, Because Russia is a major energy exporter, international response to the unparalleled act of aggression has been muted due to concerns that boycotts of Russian energy exports would worsen international energy shortages generally and European energy deficiencies specifically; and
Whereas, International sales of energy are major sources of revenue for Russia and are financing the invasion of Ukraine; and
Whereas, Russia currently supplies 30 percent of the metallurgical coal used by European steelmakers and 60% of the thermal coal used to generate electricity; and
Whereas, Coal-fired electric generation in Europe has been critical for the region’s economy and its health and safety over the last year as the continent suffered from shortages of natural gas coupled with under-performing intermittent / renewable energy sources; and
Whereas, Europe has a dependency on Russia for over 40 million tons of coal annually; and
Whereas, Europe was already planning to lean more heavily on its coal fired generation assets to compensate for limited natural gas supplies from Russia, but is now faced with the prospect of sourcing some 40 million tons of thermal coal to offset the Russian supply; and
Whereas, To appropriately confront Russia’s hostility in Ukraine, other sources of energy must be provided to our allies in Europe; and
Whereas, West Virginia coal, already preferred by European power and steel makers for its quality and stable supply history, can offset that continent’s need for Russian coal; and
Whereas, If natural gas supplies are further disrupted, coal fired power plants can generate more electricity to offset the lost generation from natural gas plants; and
Whereas, West Virginia coal can even be converted to liquid fuels to address oil and diesel fuel shortages; and
Whereas, Providing additional West Virginia coal to Europe will require the cooperation of the coal industry, railroad companies, river transportation firms, permitting and regulatory agencies; therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Delegates:
That to provide “freedom fuel” to our allies across the globe, to free Europe from the chains of Russian energy dependence, the West Virginia House of Delegates hereby calls upon all of these entities to cooperatively work to supply more West Virginia coal to international markets.