September 16, 2002—Gov. Bob Wise, along with members of the Governors Energy Task Force, has unveiled a new energy action plan for the state, which calls for the continued use of West Virginias vast coal and natural gas resources, while also urging the development of new energy and environmental technologies, energy efficiency measures, and the use of renewable energy forms.
The Governors Energy Task Force—consisting of business and industry leaders, scientific researchers, academics, labor, environmental leaders and governmental officials—presented Wise with “West Virginias Energy Roadmap: Our Approach to the New Energy Economy,” an action plan that the Task Force crafted over the past year.
The state energy plan, in addition to stimulating the research and commercialization of new energy technologies, calls upon the state to assist the private sector in its efforts to develop new power plants that utilize West Virginias vast fossil fuel resources.
West Virginia leads the nation in underground coal production and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas east of the Mississippi River.
The Governors Energy Task Force report is available online.
