Manchin sees benefits in China trade task

By Mannix Porterfield

Gov. Joe Manchin envisions potential major strides in alternate uses of coal, mine safety and environmental advances sprouting from this fall’s trade mission into China, building on a relationship that has grown more than a decade.

In fact, Manchin told state reporters via a telephone hookup Friday from Shanghai he intends to return to the Far East next year to map the progress of a coal liquefication venture in China.

“If they’re able to successfully sequester the carbon, which has been the big problem which has been facing us, that would be a tremendous achievement,” the governor said.

Manchin is accelerating his interest in alternate uses of coal, turning the fossil fuel into gas that would power motor vehicles, saying America cannot afford to stay on its path of relying on foreign fuels.

In marked contrast, he said, China is almost a photocopy of America half a century ago, when appetites for growth and energy to keep it going were running away, and her people have an abiding love for this nation.

“I really believe there is so much room and advantage for us to join into a relationship,” he said.

For the past 15 years, he noted, through an exchange program at West Virginia University, the Chinese have been on warm terms with this state.

“Goodwill has built up,” he said.

“People over here really, truly love us. From what I can see and the ones who have a connection with West Virginia, it’s just like a second home. It’s a good foundation there.”

Now, he said, there needs to be an unbroken exchange of technology so both nations can clean up the environment and find ways of converting coal cleanly into alternate fuels.

“If the government makes a decision here, they move forward and do it,” Manchin said.

“We have a hard time coming to grips. We have to find a way that we can use coal in a much cleaner environment. And it’s our responsibility to clean it up. I see them doing some things once they make a decision quicker than what we’ve been able to go through our system to get things done. We’ve opened up that dialogue. That’s a tremendous advantage for all of us.”

Global warming mongers consistently point to American industrialists as a cause of planet heat-up, generally ignoring the pollution created in other nations, specifically China.

Asked about this discrepancy, Manchin said China’s largest producer is building a $1.5 billion liquefication plant and is seeking to sequester carbon in the process.

“With 1.3 billion people, they’ve got pollution no matter what they do,” the governor said. “Just driving their cars. Heating their homes. Doing anything.”

West Virginia has met Phases 1 and 2 of the Clean Air Act, and now faces the challenge of pulling off carbon wastes, and disposing them, along with heavy metals, he said.

A coal-fired power plant rises almost weekly in China to meet the demands of an expanding population, and pollution is a hot topic of discussion, the governor said, noting first lady Gayle Manchin listened to children discuss this in a classroom about the growing problem.

“With 1.3 billion people, they really have their work cut out for them,” the governor said.

One controversy the Chinese likely can avoid is mountaintop mining. Manchin found no evidence of the practice, reminding a reporter that most of China’s coal reserves run up to 3,000 feet underground, with very little surface mining.

Manchin voiced hope West Virginia and China also can share ideas about improving mine safety. Disaster has been a frequent visitor in both locales in recent years. Manchin said disasters in China’s industry have been limited almost exclusively to the thousands of small coal installations.

Making the tour with Manchin are a number of coal-related businesses, three of them from the Beckley area, some with ties already established, others seeking to forge a relationship to sell their products.

Last year, West Virginia exported $187 million worth of goods to China. For the first six months of 2007, exports were valued at $107 million, a 20 percent increase over a year ago. Altogether, the state exported $3.2 billion in products. Exports have risen 38 percent. China ranks as the fourth-largest market for West Virginia exports but is quickly making ground on Japan.

One thing that arrested Manchin’s attention was a massive, coal liquefication plant in Mongolia with a daily capacity of 25,000 barrels.

“That is extremely interesting,” he said.

Especially, he noted, at a time when gas prices back home shot up to $3.15 a gallon.

“We end up buying almost $1 billion a day from foreign countries that have not been friendly or not been receptive to our way of life or toward us in general,” he added.

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com

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