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hedda_foil

(16,483 posts)
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 10:41 AM Sep 2021

The truth about Joe Manchin? He's a coal baron of the dirtiest kind. Literally.

There were a couple of articles about this last week but they were mostly ignored. Not this time, I hope.

First:https://theintercept.com/2021/09/03/joe-manchin-coal-fossil-fuels-pollution/

JOE MANCHIN’S DIRTY EMPIRE
Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, speaks to members of the media at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Senators negotiating the terms of a $579 billion infrastructure plan chipped away at some of the issues that had been holding up an agreement but have yet to find a breakthrough on other differences that would seal an agreement and lead to a vote on legislation.

“If you’re sticking your head in the sand, and saying that fossil [fuel] has to be eliminated in America, and they want to get rid of it, and thinking that’s going to clean up the global climate, it won’t clean it up all,” Manchin told CNN after a private meeting with President Joe Biden and his fellow Senate Democrats. “If anything, it would be worse.”

Though Manchin’s motivations are often ascribed to the conservative, coal-friendly politics of West Virginia, it is also the case that the state’s senior senator is heavily invested in the industry — and owes much of his considerable fortune to it.

For decades, Manchin has profited from a series of coal companies that he founded during the 1980s. His son, Joe Manchin IV, has since assumed leadership roles in the firms, and the senator says his ownership is held in a blind trust. Yet between the time he joined the Senate and today, Manchin has personally grossed more than $4.5 million from those firms, according to financial disclosures. He also holds stock options in Enersystems Inc., the larger of the two firms, valued between $1 and $5 million.

Those two companies are Enersystems Inc. and Farmington Resources Inc., the latter of which was created by the rapid merging of two other firms, Manchin’s Transcon and Farmington Energy in 2005. Enersystems purchases low-quality waste coal from mines and resells it to power plants as fuel, while Farmington Resources provides “support activities for mining” and holds coal reserves in the Fairmont area. Over the decades, whether feeding tens of thousands of tons of dirty waste coal into the power plants in northern West Virginia or subjecting workers to unsafe conditions, Manchin’s family coal business has almost entirely avoided public scrutiny.
https://theintercept.com/2021/09/03/joe-manchin-coal-fossil-fuels-pollution/


Also https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3x8bw/joe-manchin-senator-millions-coal-grant-town-west-virginia

Joe Manchin Makes $500K a Year From One of the Dirtiest Coal Plants in West Virginia
That’s more than twice his salary as a U.S. senator

Joe Manchin, the conservative Democrat from West Virginia who is the linchpin of his party’s climate agenda, made nearly $500,000 from one of the most polluting coal power plants in West Virginia last year alone.

According to his most recent financial disclosure, Manchin gained $492,000 last year due to his non-public shares in a coal company called Enersystems, which records show is a contractor for a power plant in the state’s north that burns waste coal.

Meanwhile, Manchin’s 2020 income for being a senator was $174,000. “He’s making more than twice as much selling coal as he is serving as a representative,” said Jim Kotcon, the conservation chair of the West Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club.

Due to impurities in the waste coal Grant Town Power Plant burns to generate electricity, it releases more sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide per unit of energy than any of the state’s coal plants, according to 2018 calculations from Kotcon.

“In terms of both of those pollutants,” Kotcon told VICE News, “it’s still the dirtiest plant operating in West Virginia today.”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3x8bw/joe-manchin-senator-millions-coal-grant-town-west-virginia


Want more? https://www.google.com/search?q=joe+manchin+coal+mining&rlz=1C1CHZN_enUS956US956&oq=manchin+coal&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0i512j0i22i30l2.6730j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
53 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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The truth about Joe Manchin? He's a coal baron of the dirtiest kind. Literally. (Original Post) hedda_foil Sep 2021 OP
K & R...nt Wounded Bear Sep 2021 #1
K&R spanone Sep 2021 #2
How many towns and homes have been poisoned and even swept away Hortensis Sep 2021 #3
The dirtiest kind of coal. hedda_foil Sep 2021 #5
The lying headline is that Manchin is the dirtiest kind. Again, we're not Hortensis Sep 2021 #7
I seem to remember a Representative's* wife recommending that toxic nuclear waste be shipped down... George II Sep 2021 #37
I also remember a VT senator colluding with another NE state to ship their Hortensis Sep 2021 #38
Bernie Sanders shouldn't have done that wellst0nev0ter Sep 2021 #52
He's from West Virginia, do we expect him to have a vineyard? underpants Sep 2021 #4
Here's the way I see it: ret5hd Sep 2021 #8
+1 Well said. nt Tommymac Sep 2021 #22
Thank you for posting this. Ferrets are Cool Sep 2021 #29
This☝️ I_UndergroundPanther Sep 2021 #41
Right. He could walk away from it anytime Captain Zero Sep 2021 #47
Of course you probably wouldn't have known about the coal company direct ownership because.... George II Sep 2021 #25
Thanks. underpants Sep 2021 #40
This message was self-deleted by its author Raine Sep 2021 #53
I knew he owned a coal mine, didn't know he also owned a sulphur spewing plant as well. Nt Fiendish Thingy Sep 2021 #6
He owns neither. George II Sep 2021 #32
Do you deny Manchin gets profits from stakes in a coal mine and plant Fiendish Thingy Sep 2021 #34
Yes, I "deny" it (what is this, "Law & Order"?) As far as I can tell, he has no stake in either.... George II Sep 2021 #45
Regardless of how you label it, he is a shareholder in the coal industry Fiendish Thingy Sep 2021 #46
LBJ knew how to squeeze until he got "yes, Master, how many bags full." NCjack Sep 2021 #9
Yep, but until we have the votes there is nothing we can do about it bottomofthehill Sep 2021 #10
Manchin is also a member of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) which was founded by ... Botany Sep 2021 #11
Association with ALEC is very bad. As for coal, Hortensis Sep 2021 #44
Post removed Post removed Sep 2021 #12
What a scumbag as is his entire family. Pepsidog Sep 2021 #13
The DEMOCRATIC Senator from West Virginia is a "scumbag"? George II Sep 2021 #31
Well I know we aren't suppose to criticize democrats on DU but my Pepsidog Sep 2021 #36
You notice the deflection Manchin made to Dana Bash halfulglas Sep 2021 #14
And, of course, Dana cut off his head for that. Grins Sep 2021 #20
Most of the interviewers have very thin skin and don't want to be embarrassed by being walked out on Ferrets are Cool Sep 2021 #30
Please do some more research about Enersystems. For one thing, their ENTIRE revenue (NOT profit)... George II Sep 2021 #15
It's just another opportunity to attack and smear Manchin. NurseJackie Sep 2021 #16
Enersystems traffics in several things, but coal is definitely one of them TiberiusB Sep 2021 #26
The article is in plain English Sympthsical Sep 2021 #27
Asked by two posts and ignored two posts... TiberiusB Sep 2021 #51
that "blind trust" onethatcares Sep 2021 #17
Lol! Dave Bowman Sep 2021 #35
Post removed Post removed Sep 2021 #18
You're calling for the death, "ASAP", of the Democratic Senator from West Virginia? George II Sep 2021 #33
K&R. dchill Sep 2021 #19
Who in the WV power structure isn't? paleotn Sep 2021 #21
7 Possible Options to make Manchin Irrelevant. He will love that. Tommymac Sep 2021 #23
Keeping this one, for absolute sure! calimary Sep 2021 #24
Further important reading about these coal interests Sympthsical Sep 2021 #28
Time for him to get a few lumps in his stocking this Xmas season... Blue Owl Sep 2021 #39
K&R SMC22307 Sep 2021 #42
He's an absolute POS and always has been budkin Sep 2021 #43
Do you need the number for Justice Democrats? brooklynite Sep 2021 #48
K&R UTUSN Sep 2021 #49
can somebody tell me why a DU administrator told me I broke the rules by critisizing housecat Sep 2021 #50

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
3. How many towns and homes have been poisoned and even swept away
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 10:56 AM
Sep 2021

by illegal waste practices? How many criminal investigations and prosecutions had to be quashed, huge fines eliminated, to protect him, as McConnell and his like do for coal criminals?

It should be enough to say Manchin is heavily invested in the dirty-energy coal industry without claiming he's the dirtiest kind. Not even close.

If it's not true, it's despicable manipulation and purposes should be questioned. We're not damned Republicans.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
7. The lying headline is that Manchin is the dirtiest kind. Again, we're not
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:16 AM
Sep 2021

trumpists. God knows they've shown us that soaking up lies that please turns rational people into dangers to self and others.

Everyone should realize at very least that the "dirtiest kinds" OF COURSE elect and fully support the Republicans who protect them and their illegal activities. McConnell and company would love to see Manchin in prison, disgracing the Democratic Party, and -- above all -- replaced with a hard-core, corrupt Republican of their choosing.

George II

(67,782 posts)
37. I seem to remember a Representative's* wife recommending that toxic nuclear waste be shipped down...
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 02:55 PM
Sep 2021

....from New England to a poor Hispanic town near our Mexico border, and the Representative (*now a Senator) co-sponsored the House Resolution to permit the dumping. It passed, but thankfully environmentalists intervened and the dumping never happened.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
38. I also remember a VT senator colluding with another NE state to ship their
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 03:07 PM
Sep 2021

low-level nuclear waste to a low-income, mostly minority county in Texas. All arranged through a devil's deal with TX's Republican governor, of course. This plot was successfully carried out, even though residents came to Vermont to beg the senator not to. They failed to stop it but made enough fuss that VT moved it out without notice at night and similarly arranged to sneak it into the victim county.

underpants

(186,184 posts)
4. He's from West Virginia, do we expect him to have a vineyard?
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:00 AM
Sep 2021

I’m sure there are fine WV wines but it was the first contrast that came to mind.

I have family who knows him and he’s a good guy. I didn’t know about the coal company direct ownership.

ret5hd

(21,305 posts)
8. Here's the way I see it:
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:18 AM
Sep 2021

Let’s say I started a coal company a few decades back, etc, same as him. It makes me rich.

Today, I see what the results of this industry are: pollution, disease, death.

I have several options:
1) Deny and double down
2) Sell it all, take my fortune, and speak the truth
3) Shut it down, take the loss, and still be left sitting pretty good.

What would I do? Honestly, probably number two. I’d like to think I would choose 3, but…

What I would definitely NOT do is 1. Such a person can not be called a “good guy” by any reasonable definition of the term.

He is not a “good guy”. He might be a good family man, might be a good personal friend, might be a supporter of other good causes…I don’t know.

But he is not a “good guy”. He is consciously, actively, and eagerly poisoning the earth and its inhabitants for his own enrichment…knowing full well that he and his family would be just fine even if he picked option 3.

That is greed. That is evil. That is not a “good guy”.

Ferrets are Cool

(21,775 posts)
29. Thank you for posting this.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 01:31 PM
Sep 2021

If selling horseshit as a cure for Covid made you a fortune, you would still be a evil person for doing so.

Captain Zero

(7,416 posts)
47. Right. He could walk away from it anytime
Mon Sep 13, 2021, 12:08 AM
Sep 2021

And in several ways be just fine financially, and still be US Senator. But he can't see that? Just weird. This guy can't see what he can do and be just fine and still be a senator. Smdh.

George II

(67,782 posts)
25. Of course you probably wouldn't have known about the coal company direct ownership because....
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 12:51 PM
Sep 2021

....he doesn't have direct ownership of a "coal company".

Enersystems is a 2-person company (he is the key principle) with annual sales (SALES, not profit) of $460,000, profit is probably less than $100,000, most likely much less than that. They're not even in the coal industry,

The segments of their entire industry category are:

Metal and Mineral (except Petroleum) Merchant Wholesalers
Miscellaneous Durable Goods Merchant Wholesalers
Oil and Gas Extraction
Office Administrative Services
Coal


They're described as "...part of the Metal and Mineral (except Petroleum) Merchant Wholesalers Industry", the first segment. Coal is an entirely different segment.

https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.enersystems.4c7ff1517e90fcf20b65d8a2238da32b.html

This Vice article is bordering on Breitbart caliber "journalism".

underpants

(186,184 posts)
40. Thanks.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 03:33 PM
Sep 2021

I just read what was posted. Like I said, I know people who know him and he’s a good guy. People here don’t understand that that fact that he’s still representing WV is quite remarkable.

Response to underpants (Reply #4)

Fiendish Thingy

(17,982 posts)
34. Do you deny Manchin gets profits from stakes in a coal mine and plant
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 01:53 PM
Sep 2021

Ok, he may not be the controlling, 51%+ owner, but he (and his son, IIRC) has a significant stake in both; it’s not like he just owns a few shares in a mutual fund or something.

George II

(67,782 posts)
45. Yes, I "deny" it (what is this, "Law & Order"?) As far as I can tell, he has no stake in either....
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 09:09 PM
Sep 2021

....a coal mine or a power plant.

He did establish a company (perhaps two) back in the 1980s or 1990s that sells supplies to a power and coal plants. They're more of a sales organization than a "mine owner" or "shareholder".

It's like the company that sells beer to bars, restaurants, and liquor stores. That company isn't a brewery, they're a "middle man" between the producer and the final point of sale.

Fiendish Thingy

(17,982 posts)
46. Regardless of how you label it, he is a shareholder in the coal industry
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:46 PM
Sep 2021

And has made millions from it.

bottomofthehill

(8,766 posts)
10. Yep, but until we have the votes there is nothing we can do about it
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:32 AM
Sep 2021

His first vote for Leader is the best we can hope for. We need at least 52 senate Democrats to overcome his BS, in a 50/50 Senate, he is the king

Botany

(72,252 posts)
11. Manchin is also a member of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) which was founded by ...
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:54 AM
Sep 2021

... the Koch Brothers and is funded by Fossil Fuel $$.

https://www.alec.org/about/alumni/

He knows coal is dirty and it pollutes, that climate changes is real, and he just doesn't give a shit.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
44. Association with ALEC is very bad. As for coal,
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 07:59 PM
Sep 2021

he's a conservative who represents a coal state with a big coal constituency. He's been looking all along, though, for compromise that won't go nearly far enough for us with carbon footprints, etc, now, but would invest in development of other energy sources.

Response to hedda_foil (Original post)

Pepsidog

(6,293 posts)
36. Well I know we aren't suppose to criticize democrats on DU but my
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 02:17 PM
Sep 2021

response to the post was just visceral. Yes I know we should be grateful to have a D senator from WV but considering what was just disclosed and Manchin’s daughter and son’s business dealings it’s obvious that he is motivated by personal greed and not the welfare of the people of WV or the Democratic Party. His state is rated among the worst states in the country yet he objects to an infrastructure bill that would greatly benefit his failing state while he and his family enrich themselves at the cost of the environment and in the case of his daughter the health of many Americans whom she screwed by raising the price of a prescription drug then making millions on mergers then closing of a vital Pharmaceutical company that many West Virginian’s relied upon for a decent wage. It’s just a shame the people of WV don’t elect a real Democrat who could make a real difference in their beleaguered state.

halfulglas

(1,654 posts)
14. You notice the deflection Manchin made to Dana Bash
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 12:01 PM
Sep 2021

When she brought up AOC's assertion about Manchin, instead of refuting her with facts, he said he didn't know her (AOC) well and only met her one time - as if that fact refuted her charges of his being in the pocket of industry. One statement has nothing to do with the other. and changes nada.

Grins

(7,844 posts)
20. And, of course, Dana cut off his head for that.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 12:43 PM
Sep 2021

Oh, wait. She didn’t.

Interviewers should always be thinking “Answer the damn question!” And if they don’t - call them out on it! Make THEM howl and suffer. (And a big GOP-thank you here to Tim Russert, David Gregory, Chuck Todd, and so many more.)

I hate it when they answer with, “Well, I think the better question is (something else)”

They should be cut off at “is.”
“No. That’s your question. My question is (repeats it.)”

A Great British editor told new reporters doing interviews to always think these two sentences:
“Why is he lying?” And,
“Why is he lying to me?”

He was also famous for the line, “If he said his mother loves him - check it out.”

Ferrets are Cool

(21,775 posts)
30. Most of the interviewers have very thin skin and don't want to be embarrassed by being walked out on
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 01:33 PM
Sep 2021

They are mostly reading from a script. They are NOT reporters.

George II

(67,782 posts)
15. Please do some more research about Enersystems. For one thing, their ENTIRE revenue (NOT profit)...
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 12:10 PM
Sep 2021

....was only $460,000 last year.

Enersystems is not a "coal company".

This Vice article is rife with falsehoods.

NurseJackie

(42,862 posts)
16. It's just another opportunity to attack and smear Manchin.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 12:17 PM
Sep 2021

It's ridiculous. It serves no good purpose.

TiberiusB

(500 posts)
26. Enersystems traffics in several things, but coal is definitely one of them
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 12:57 PM
Sep 2021
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/07/26/26greenwire-sen-manchin-maintains-lucrative-ties-to-family-64717.html

"Manchin reported significant earnings from Enersystems Inc., a coal brokerage"


https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.enersystems.4c7ff1517e90fcf20b65d8a2238da32b.html
Industry
Metal and Mineral (except Petroleum) Merchant Wholesalers
Miscellaneous Durable Goods Merchant Wholesalers
Oil and Gas Extraction
Office Administrative Services
Coal


Also, the article talked about Manchin's income from non-public shares in Enersystems , not the company's operating income or profit. That might still be inaccurate, but the two are not exactly equivalent. It's not clear if that income was a deferred payout having accumulated value over time or was directly tied to income in a single calendar year, which seems unlikely, at least recently.

What are some of the other falsehoods?

Sympthsical

(9,987 posts)
27. The article is in plain English
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 01:08 PM
Sep 2021

And it is literally one single sentence to work through.

According to his most recent financial disclosure, Manchin gained $492,000 last year due to his non-public shares in a coal company called Enersystems, which records show is a contractor for a power plant in the state’s north that burns waste coal.


That $492k is literally in his financial disclosure report. These things are public. Unless you're calling Manchin a liar.

Are you calling Manchin a liar? Lying on federal disclosure forms is a serious crime.

Here's some more info for you (took me three seconds to rummage up in the googles)

Manchin earns hundreds of thousands of dollars each year through coal sales to power plants that supply Edison Electric Institute member companies. His family company, Enersystems, is a contractor of American Bituminous Power Partners (AmBit), a coal power plant located near Grant Town, W.V. that provides energy to Monogahela Power Company, according to documents from the West Virginia Public Services Commission (PSC). Also known as Mon Power, the electric company is a subsidiary of energy giant FirstEnergy and an EEI member.

Manchin founded the coal brokerage Enersystems in 1988 and helped run the company, handing control to his son Joseph upon being elected West Virginia secretary of state in 2000 and reportedly moving his holdings into a blind trust between 2005 and 2010. In Manchin’s most recent financial disclosure, covering the fiscal year 2020, he reports that his non-public shares of Enersystems, a “contract services and material provider for utility plants,” are worth between $1 million and $5 million, and sent him an income of $492,000. His total income from the company since joining the Senate is more than $4.5 million.


https://readsludge.com/2021/07/01/manchin-profits-from-coal-sales-to-utility-lobbying-group-members/

So what are the falsehoods here?

Reflexive defense of conservative things (again) may occasionally lead people awry.

TiberiusB

(500 posts)
51. Asked by two posts and ignored two posts...
Wed Sep 15, 2021, 11:31 AM
Sep 2021

I'm thinking there may be at least one more falsehood, but not in the article.

Response to hedda_foil (Original post)

 

brooklynite

(96,882 posts)
48. Do you need the number for Justice Democrats?
Mon Sep 13, 2021, 12:09 AM
Sep 2021

I'm sure they can find a "real" Democrat to run against him. The Republicans will love it.

housecat

(3,137 posts)
50. can somebody tell me why a DU administrator told me I broke the rules by critisizing
Mon Sep 13, 2021, 09:45 AM
Sep 2021

a Democrat - Manchin. Really?

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