Robin Blakeman penned a response to The (Huntington) Herald-Dispatch’s Sept. 22, 2019, editorial: “W.Va. budget must prepare for post-coal economy.”
Here’s an excerpt:
I agree with The Herald-Dispatch editorial board that West Virginia lawmakers and officials must prepare for the reality of a post-coal economy. We need to strengthen and diversify our state’s economy to make up for declining coal severance taxes and protect ourselves against the boom-bust price shocks of the oil and gas industry.
One solution is to incentivize renewable energy development in West Virginia.
Investing in renewable energy now will bring thousands of good new jobs to our state, boost entrepreneurship and local business development, and encourage corporate employers to locate and invest here. …
One simple step our elected officials can take to grow the state’s renewable energy sector is to legalize on-site power purchase agreements (PPAs) for renewable energy resources.
Read the full letter here. If you support PPAs, consider adding your comments to the letter.
Interested in writing an op/ed or letter to the editor? Let us know.