Senator Joe Manchin, West Virginia Elections, and West Virginia Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas
We provide some numerical background to Senator Joe Manchin and West Virginia Politics.
West Virginia is a Republican State, and it is to Joe Manchin’s credit that he is the only Democrat there at a national or gubernatorial level. But his last election to Senate there was rather close. We start with the political situation.
In the 2020 Presidential election, Trump beat Biden in W.V. by 68.6% to 29.7%, or more than 2 to 1. In the 2016 Presidential election, Trump beat Clinton there by even more, 68.6% to 26.5%.
In the 2016 Senate race, the Republican incumbent candidate, Shelly Moore Capito, beat the Democratic candidate, Paula Jean Swearengur, by 70.3% to 27%.
In the W.V. Governor’s race, Republican Jim Justice beat the Democrat Ben Salomgo, by 63.5% to 30.2%.
W.V. Has three Congressional representatives, all Republicans.
Joe Manchin, who had been Governor, won the special election for Senator in 2010 with 54% of the vote. He won the regular election in 2012 with 61% of the vote. In 2018 he won reelection with 49.57% of the vote, with his Republican opponent getting 46.26%, and a Libertarian candidate the rest. So Manchin won by about 19,000 votes.
Before Senator Manchin started his ladder up in political positions, he co-formed and ran a coal brokerage called Enersystems. He now Chairs the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
A study of the economic contributions of West Virginia Coal and associated electric power production and associated contributions, in 2017, by West Virginia University, shows that it led to a GDP contribution of $12.9 billion. Out of a W.V. State GDP of $77 billion, this is 16.8% or one sixth of the state’s economy. These sources also generate $652 million in state and local tax sources. The population of W.V. Is 1.8 million, and these sources generate 39,000 jobs.
Coal data from the Energy Information Administration show that West Virginia in 2020 mined 11.6% of US coal. In 2019, it mined 13.2%. Total US coal production fell 24.2% between those two years. Total W.V. Production fell 27.9% between those years. Total US mines fell from 669 to 552 between 2019 and 2020. W.V. Mines fell from 162 to 135. Underground coal production in W.V. Fell 20.7%, and surface mine production fell 50%.
In 2019, W.V. Oil and natural gas generated $11.2 billion toward the state’s GDP, of which $6.8 billion was direct, and $4.4 billion was indirect. This is 14.2% of the W.V. GDP. These industries supported 82,000 jobs, of which 32,000 were direct and 49,700 indirect. They generated $5.2 billion of labor income, or 11% of the state’s total labor income.
During Senator Manchin’s brief ‘$1.5 trillion base’ news conference yesterday, he talked about the necessity of continuing natural gas production to complement fluctuating renewable energy, but it wasn’t clear if he was also asking for government support. He didn’t mention coal.
Some more background data. During President Trump’s term, the national debt rose $7.8 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office estimate of the US GDP over the next decade totals $288 trillion. The ten year Biden Build Back Better Act proposal of $3.5 trillion is only 1.2% of this. I couldn’t find the debt on exactly January 20th, but at the end of 2016 it was $19.573 trillion and 105% of GDP, and at the end of 2020, $27.748 trillion, and 129% of GDP.
I am unaware of any mathematical, physical, or economic theorem that says that the world comes to an end when the national debt exceeds the GDP.
