Van Nostrand, James M, An Energy and Sustainability Roadmap for West Virginia (2013). West Virginia Law Review, Vol. 115, No. 3, 2013. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2495555

“This article explores the measures that West Virginia policymakers can take to position the state for a more sustainable energy future. Throughout its history, energy resources have been a driver for the West Virginia economy, with a heavy emphasis on fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) in particular. In more recent years, the State is moving rapidly toward developing its natural gas resources in the Marcellus Shale. Going forward, policymakers in West Virginia need to consider a future where the national economy is less dependent on the coal industry. While electricity generation in the U.S. depends on coal for about one half of its fuel source, that dependency is expected to decline gradually over the coming years as older, dirtier coal generating plants are retired in the face of more stringent regulations of emissions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as global demands for coal that will continue to raise the domestic price to levels that threaten its cost-competitiveness compared to other fuel sources for electric generation, such as natural gas. West Virginia policymakers can take a number of steps to prepare the State for this new energy future. This article examines some of these options.”