HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 52
(By Delegates Susman, Longstreth, Manypenny,
Perdue, Staggers, Fleischauer, Argento, Barker, Beach, Boggs,
Brown, Cann, Crosier, Doyle, Fragale, Guthrie, Hatfield,
Iaquinta, Klempa, Kominar, Lawrence, Mahan, Manchin, Martin,
McGeehan, Miley, Moore, Morgan, Moye, Reynolds, Shook,
Stephens, Talbott, Webster, Wells, White and Wooton)
Supporting the development of a permanent utility-scale wind farm
on Coal River Mountain in the Coal River Mountain Area of
Raleigh County, West Virginia, in order to promote the
diversification of the local and state economies and energy
portfolios while allowing for continued responsible
underground coal mining in the area.
Whereas, The West Virginia coal industry provides a significant
amount of energy for the United States and a vital source of jobs
and economic revenue for West Virginia, including one thousand one
hundred mining jobs and over $1.5 million in annual coal severance
taxes for Raleigh County; and
Whereas, There are vast opportunities for diversifying the
state energy portfolio, while creating new industries, new jobs and
new sources of revenue that can complement those contributed by the
coal industry in southern West Virginia counties such as Raleigh County; and
Whereas, Wind power provides one such opportunity, as there are
substantial, economically feasible wind resources of both the large
and small scale that can be developed in southern West Virginia;
and
Whereas, Studies have shown that wind resources and the
economic benefits of wind development are severely diminished and
development rendered economically prohibitive as the ridge altitude
is reduced as a result of surface mining; and
Whereas, A Coal River Mountain wind farm, consisting of one
hundred sixty-four wind turbines and generating three hundred
twenty-eight megawatts of electricity, would provide over $1.74
million in annual property taxes to Raleigh County; and coal
severance taxes related to proposed mountaintop removal mining, by
comparison, would provide the county with only $36,000 per year;
and
Whereas, A wind farm of this magnitude, combined with
incentives for development of other wind farms in Raleigh County
and other counties in southern West Virginia, could result in the
development and growth of a viable and lasting wind industry; and
Whereas, By stimulating new economic opportunities in the
rural parts of Raleigh County, the wind farm would provide greater
opportunities for economic diversification than would be provided
by the surface mining operations proposed for Coal River Mountain; and
Whereas, Wind power development on Coal River Mountain is
possible because of the unique topography of the region, and wind
is a natural resource from which much of southern West Virginia
will be unable to benefit economically if surface mining continues
and is expanded on, and in adjacent to areas of Coal River
Mountain; and
Whereas, Raleigh County coal production and mine productivity
have been steadily declining since 1997, even as surface mine
production has expanded, thus indicating that coal reserves in
Raleigh County are being rapidly depleted, as will be the jobs and
severance taxes that coal mining currently contributes to the
county's economy; and
Whereas, A December 2008 study shows that long-term economic
stewardship of Coal River Mountain, allowing for both the continued
recovery of coal by expanding underground mining while preserving
the surface landscape of Coal River Mountain for wind farming,
affords substantial and relatively greater economic benefits
through diversified economic development and energy production than
surface mining would, and which surface mining activity alone
eliminates; and
Whereas, Underground mining in West Virginia employs
approximately twice the number of workers per ton of coal produced
than surface mining; and
Whereas, Developing alternative industries is necessary to
ensure the future economic vitality of the Coal River Valley; and
Whereas, The proposed wind farm development for Coal River
Mountain received the annual, nationally recognized and highly
competitive "Building Economic Alternatives" award by the nonprofit
Green America (formerly Co-Op America); and
Whereas, Formal surveys and opinion polls show that a decisive
majority of West Virginia citizens support a ban on the surface
mining practice of mountaintop removal mining, like that currently
being permitted on Coal River Mountain, and that sixty-two percent
of West Virginians support wind development rather than mountaintop
removal mining for Coal River Mountain; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the West Virginia Legislature supports the development of
a permanent commercial wind farm on Coal River Mountain in the Coal
River Mountain Area of Raleigh County, West Virginia, in order to
promote the diversification of local and state economies and energy
portfolios while continuing to properly evaluate the permitting of
responsible underground coal mining activity in the area; and, be
it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House forward a
certified copy of this resolution to the Secretary of the
Department of Environmental Protection.