Joe Manchin, the Democratic Senator from West Virginia, has longstanding, well-known ties to coal business he and his family own in West Virginia. Decades ago, Manchin had set up his company to be the sole coal supplier for a power plant in Grant Town, West Virginia. Then, while in public office, Manchin successfully pushed for the power plant to receive air pollution permits and special tax credits – actions that directly increased the profitability of the power plant, and thus, the coal company he owned. While in office, Manchin successfully pushed the power plant to increase their charging rates, meaning that while West Virginians saw their electricity bills increase, Manchin directly pocketed the difference. He was literally taking money directly from his constituents,
As Senator, Manchin has successfully held up bills that would have increased investments in renewable energy sources while decreasing funding for fossil fuels like coal – a blatant conflict of interest if there ever was one.
This doesn’t even touch the ~$500,000 that Manchin, a ranking member of the Senate Energy Committee, rakes in every year from his investments in Enersystems, a coal mining operation owned by his son,
