Warren Buffett’s Green Cash Washes Over Coal Country
solar panels and rechargeable batteries. The Buffett name and the promise of 300 jobs helped the companies overcome resistance in a state where coal provides more than 90% of the electricity. West Virginia has in the past year approved some $400 million in funds for three renewable-energy projects, including Berkshire’s.
The Republican-led legislature, eager to create jobs, has passed new legislation that benefits renewable energy. Accelerating the shift are billions in federal subsidies to clean-energy entrepreneurs and manufacturers from the Biden administration’s new infrastructure and climate laws. The federal money—tied to industrial production that brings jobs—is beginning to sway even the most coal-centric areas of the country.
The funds have reframed the renewable-energy debate away from global warming and environmental protection, and toward economic development. That’s brought on board many Republicans in the GOP-majority states of Appalachia, where green energy projects backed by the federal subsidies are drawing billions of dollars in investments. It’s also fueled a party split, with other Republican lawmakers denouncing big government spending.
They argue that national security depends on fossil fuels, and point out the benefits flowing to Chinese and other foreign companies involved in the green-energy projects. “The renewable folks are starting to get more clout, the coal industry is starting to lose its influence," said James van Nostrand, former director of West Virginia University’s Center for Energy and Sustainable Development. To pave the way for the Berkshire project, the Republican-led West Virginia state legislature passed a law last year that bypassed the state’s powerful pro-coal utility
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