Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
“We can burn coal in compliance with clean air laws”: West Virginia’s War ‘for’ Clean Coal, 1977-1984
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
With Appalachian politics so focused around the “War on Coal” led by President Obama’s EPA, there has been less discussion on the origins of modern debates over “clean coal.” Only until the energy crises of the 1970’s, natural gas, oil, and nuclear power dwarfed coal in electric power generation. After the OPEC embargo of 1973, policymakers rushed to promote energy security and independence. Recent scholarship focuses on federal efforts to draft an effective energy policy. Meg Jacob’s recent book, Panic at the Pump focuses almost entirely on the debates surrounding foreign oil and conservation. Less well appreciated are the ways energy Democrats pushed for coal-fired electric power generation. In the late 1970’s, they pushed the Carter Administration to convert electric utilities to coal and develop synthetic coal liquefaction technologies. A better place to see this political debate is West Virginia. This paper will focus on the role played by West Virginia’s pro-coal Democrats, especially Governor Jay Rockefeller IV (1977-1985), to push clean coal technologies, coal conversion legislation, and fight the EPA’s policies. By utilizing the papers of Governor Rockefeller, I hope to show how his Administration played a crucial role on the state and federal level in shaping energy policy and crafting the rhetoric of “clean coal.” I hope this research suggests the roots of the current debates over EPA policy, and how West Virginia’s Democratic Party was able to stay in power for another generation by aggressively pushing “clean coal” as part of economic re-development.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
William Gorby is a Teaching Assistant Professor of History, and Director of Undergraduate Studies at West Virginia University who is finishing a book under advanced contract through WVU Press tentatively titled “Re-Creating Polonia in the Upper Ohio River Valley.” He also consulted on the research and script editing for the recent PBS American Experience documentary “The Mine Wars.”
“We can burn coal in compliance with clean air laws”: West Virginia’s War ‘for’ Clean Coal, 1977-1984
With Appalachian politics so focused around the “War on Coal” led by President Obama’s EPA, there has been less discussion on the origins of modern debates over “clean coal.” Only until the energy crises of the 1970’s, natural gas, oil, and nuclear power dwarfed coal in electric power generation. After the OPEC embargo of 1973, policymakers rushed to promote energy security and independence. Recent scholarship focuses on federal efforts to draft an effective energy policy. Meg Jacob’s recent book, Panic at the Pump focuses almost entirely on the debates surrounding foreign oil and conservation. Less well appreciated are the ways energy Democrats pushed for coal-fired electric power generation. In the late 1970’s, they pushed the Carter Administration to convert electric utilities to coal and develop synthetic coal liquefaction technologies. A better place to see this political debate is West Virginia. This paper will focus on the role played by West Virginia’s pro-coal Democrats, especially Governor Jay Rockefeller IV (1977-1985), to push clean coal technologies, coal conversion legislation, and fight the EPA’s policies. By utilizing the papers of Governor Rockefeller, I hope to show how his Administration played a crucial role on the state and federal level in shaping energy policy and crafting the rhetoric of “clean coal.” I hope this research suggests the roots of the current debates over EPA policy, and how West Virginia’s Democratic Party was able to stay in power for another generation by aggressively pushing “clean coal” as part of economic re-development.
