CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA - Delegate Pat McGeehan (R-Hancock) will be sponsoring and hosting an Energy Independence Summit at the West Virginia State Capitol on April 8, 2009. The summit will include industry executives as well as policy makers and representatives from the Department of Defense. The purpose of the Summit is to discuss and negotiate the construction of the country's first commercial Coal-to-Liquid fuel plant in West Virginia.

"The issue of using America's own natural resources to replace part of our foreign oil needs has come to the forefront of national policy," said Delegate Pat McGeehan. "I believe that a commercialized coal-to-liquid fuel plant is now finally economically viable and will play an important role in not only boosting West Virginia's economy, but also shaping our nation's national security. Furthermore, our state has a unique role to lead the country to Energy Independence due to our large amounts of coal and natural gas reserves and skilled labor force. This has the potential to bring West Virginia to the forefront in our nation's quest for Energy Independence."

The expansive list of invited and confirmed guests will include the Director of the Defense Energy Support Center, members of the Department of Defense, Commercial Airline executives, coal and natural gas executives, labor executives, investment bankers, chemists, Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Companies from around the country, and other public officials including Governor Joe Manchin, III. The Summit will begin at noon and conclude at 3 p.m. and will take place in the Governor's Conference Room at the Capitol Building. There will be a press event at the close of the summit.

A fully commercialized Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Plant is capable of producing 30,000 barrels of liquid Jet Fuel per day and would take 2,000 permanent employees to operate, along with an additional 4,000 to 6,000 contractors to construct, and only two are in operation around the world-none of which exist within the United States. "I have spent countless hours working on bringing together all of these knowledgeable and influential parties with different backgrounds into one room, and it is with great hope that we can sit down at the same table and come to a proper course-of-action to implement this project. I am confident this summit will end with positive results to bring this project to fruition and in the long run.save American lives," added Delegate McGeehan.

For more information, please contact Delegate Pat McGeehan at (304) 340-3120 or mcgeehan@mail.wvnet.edu.