Adopted by House 2-13-2006
ENGROSSED
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 17
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Staton, Browning, Rick
Thompson, Long, Perdue, H. K. White, Kominar, Frederick, Porter,
Moore, Susman, Lane and Mahan)
[Introduced January 13,2006; referred to the
Committee on Rules.]
Requesting the Governor of the State of West Virginia and the West
Virginia Development Office to put the highest priority on
putting forward locations in the southern coalfield counties
for the proposed coal conversion facilities.
Whereas, The United States faces foreign and domestic threats
to the petroleum and natural gas resources so vital to our economy;
and
Whereas, West Virginia has an estimated 50 billion tons of coal
reserves; and
Whereas, Coal liquefaction and other conversion processes can
turn each ton of coal into as much as three barrels of liquid fuel;
and
Whereas, Governor Joe Manchin, III, has established the West
Virginia Coal Conversion Initiative to bring the public and private
sectors together to build coal conversion facilities and related infrastructures in the Mountain State; and
Whereas, Such facilities would bring much needed jobs, economic
development and take the state away from a dependence on outside
fuels; and
Whereas, Southern West Virginia is located within 500 miles of
half of the nation's population and much of West Virginia's coal
reserves lie in the southern coalfields; and
Whereas, The West Virginia Turnpike, U. S. Route 19 and the
soon to be built
King Coal Highway, Tolsia Highway and Coalfields
Expressway make southern West Virginia more accessible than ever to
the markets of the East Coast, Midwest and South; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature hereby requests the Governor of the State
of West Virginia and the West Virginia Development Office to put
the highest priority on putting forward locations in the southern
coalfield counties for the proposed coal conversion facilities;
and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House is hereby
directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the Governor of
the State of West Virginia, the West Virginia Development Office
and the Wyoming County Commission.