Charleston, W.Va. – “West Virginia manufacturers stand firmly with natural gas and coal, while advocating further development of renewables, and for that matter nuclear power. All play a role in energizing America,” said Rebecca McPhail, president of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association. “Michael Bloomberg’s attempt to attack fossil fuels is misguided absent any reasonable thought as to what will replace them. The renewables that Bloomberg champions are by their nature intermittent. The stability of fossil fuels is needed for the foreseeable future to provide the energy necessary to power our homes, fuel our cars, and manufacture the products that we all use.”

“Members of the WVMA support the development of renewables and promote all-of-the-above energy policy.  But because the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow, we need the stability of fossil fuels to keep the country running,” McPhail added. “The $500 million that Bloomberg has dedicated to killing the fossil fuels industry would be better spend in developing grid-scale battery storage and the other technologies it will take to make renewables a more realistic partner in meeting the energy needs of our country in the future.”