Governor-elect Justice has the new President in his rolodex

Governor-elect Jim Justice makes his victory speech at The Greenbrier resort.
Governor-elect Jim Justice makes his victory speech at The Greenbrier resort.

Governor-elect Jim Justice likes to tout his contacts. “I can pick up the phone and call almost anybody in the world and they’ll at least take my call,” he famously said last year, and then reiterated similar versions of that statement throughout the campaign.

That confidence, bordering on braggadocio, has been one of Justice’s selling points for his ability to inspire economic growth and job creation in West Virginia.  The soon-to-be Governor has already been on the phone to a key decision maker, but he didn’t even have to make the call.

Last Saturday, while coaching his Greenbrier East basketball team in practice, Justice received a call from Eric Trump who turned the phone over to his father, President-elect Donald Trump, who wanted to talk with Justice.

What followed was a 15-minute conversation between the two about their plans for the state and the country. Justice says Trump promised to follow through on his pledge to put coal miners back to work, and Justice believes him.

“You’re going to have to have regulations removed,” Justice said. “You’re going to have to have a real push to use coal and you’re going to have to have the market.”

Those are all valid points. Any rebound by coal will be dependent upon a number of factors.  However, having an administration that embraces coal and fossil fuels rather than being hostile toward them will make a significant difference.

“It begins to build confidence,” West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney told me.

No one would realistically predict a return to a decade ago when West Virginia coal production peaked at 160-million tons—today it’s just under 100-million–but Raney believes a growth of at least twenty percent from the current level would make a huge difference.

Trump can give coal an immediate shot in the arm by reining in the EPA and its eight-year long crusade to eliminate coal from the country’s energy mix by regulatory dictum and then repealing President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

West Virginia’s federal and state elected officials have been persona non grata with the EPA for the last eight years. Any working relationship that existed with previous administrations dried up when the EPA put coal in its crosshairs.

That should change now. The EPA will be pulled back to within the boundaries of its jurisdiction and the coal industry will again have a reasonable opportunity for compliance.

If there is a problem, Governor-elect Justice knows the right person to call.  “There’s no doubt whatsoever that I’ve got an open line (to Trump) and there is no doubt whatsoever that they will listen and there is no doubt whatsoever that I won’t hesitate to call.”

 

 





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