EXCLUSIVE: ‘King Coal’ still reigns as one of the most affordable, reliable and transportable sources of energy – and the U.S. still has a lot of it, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey told Fox News Digital in an interview at the National Governors Association’s winter meeting.
Morrisey acknowledged America’s ongoing race with China to be the most powerful nation in terms of both energy development and AI technology. West Virginia, he said Saturday, seeks to lead the way.
“I’m still very hopeful that there’s a future for coal,” Morrisey said. “Let me explain why: We’re right now about to embark on an information technology arms race with China.”
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“And we have to catch up to what they’re doing in terms of the Chinese use of coal and many, many different types of fuel sources, because we can’t let them get ahead of us as they’re building capacity in AI, superintelligence, robotics and advanced manufacturing.”
While both nations are likely to rely on advances in nuclear energy and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, there remain the “resiliency, availability and affordability of coal,” he said.
“I think there’s an opportunity … to increase the capacity of some of the coal-fired power plants that have been slowed down in recent years. Because if we don’t do that, we’re not going to compete with the Chinese.”
The governor said that one of his top priorities is to bring the Mountain State’s coal infrastructure and industry back to a higher capacity.
“I think that it’s sorely needed from a national security perspective.”
West Virginia produced 89 million tons of coal in 2021, according to the latest data recorded by the state miners’ office. That figure is down sharply from the 1940s through the late 1990s, when the state averaged upwards of 130 million tons per year.
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Wyoming remains tops in U.S. coal production, followed by West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Illinois.
“West Virginia is America’s energy state. We’re so rich in resources: coal and natural gas and water. And we have a lot of opportunities in front of us,” Morrisey went on, adding that he was heartened by the substantive bipartisan discussions at the NGA in regard to speeding up the energy-permitting process at the state and federal levels.
“So when you’re thinking about how to take advantage of those opportunities, you think of transmission, you think of permitting,” he said, echoing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of neighboring energy powerhouse Pennsylvania, who pledged Friday to refund applicants if there are delays or if things go awry.
In terms of the Mountain State’s role in what Morrisey and other governors at the NGA called the “AI arms race” with China, the state is predicted to build on Morrisey’s predecessor, now-Sen. Jim Justice’s efforts to grow the state’s tech industry.
“I’ve said over and over that we need to do everything possible to add these kinds of high-tech companies and jobs in West Virginia,” Justice said in 2019. “We have so many people in this state who are gifted beyond belief and who will be able to fill these spots and do incredible work. It’s truly a pipeline of talent.”
On Saturday, Morrisey also reflected on his group meeting with President Donald Trump, Cabinet secretaries and his fellow governors at the White House.
“They understand that you can’t move energy at the speed of slow. And so we’re eager to partner with them,” he said, adding that Trump pledged to the governors that he would seek to eliminate 10 regulations for every one that his administration adds.
“I think states like West Virginia and Pennsylvania and many other states have a chance to work closely with the Trump administration. It’s going to be a lot easier, because they know how important it is to reassert American energy dominance – if you get the permitting right.”
Morrisey also spoke about his response to the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs across the southern border.
Last month, Morrisey issued an executive order aimed at illegal immigrants in his state, which led to five dozen people being detained pending immigration status verification in the state’s regional jail system.
The governor noted West Virginia’s unfortunate spot as the state with the most drug overdose deaths per capita and said that both his and Trump’s immigration policies are needed to fix that systemic crisis.
“We’re working hand in hand with ice to identify illegal aliens and make sure that they can get deported. And this is really important to do, because, as President Trump said yesterday, when you actually remove a lot of these illegal aliens from the system, you’re going to see a reduction in crime.”
“It takes states working with the federal government to make sure that we’re kind of reasserting our position and stopping all the horrific consequences of what happened with the illegal immigrants coming in. I know in West Virginia we really felt the impact of that through the massive amount of death that flowed from fentanyl flood[ing] in from China [via] the Mexican drug cartels.”
Fox News Digital’s Sophia Compton contributed to this report.
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