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

[hedda_foil]

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

[Wounded Bear]

1. K & R...nt

[spanone]

2. K&R

[Hortensis]

3. How many towns and homes have been poisoned and even swept away

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.

[hedda_foil]

5. The dirtiest kind of coal.

[Hortensis]

7. The lying headline is that Manchin is the dirtiest kind. Again, we're not

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]

37. I seem to remember a Representative's* wife recommending that toxic nuclear waste be shipped down...

....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]

38. I also remember a VT senator colluding with another NE state to ship their

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.

[wellst0nev0ter]

52. Bernie Sanders shouldn't have done that

Now can we get back to the topic at hand?

[underpants]

4. He's from West Virginia, do we expect him to have a vineyard?

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]

8. Here's the way I see it:

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”.

[Tommymac]

22. +1 Well said. nt

[Ferrets are Cool]

29. Thank you for posting this.

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

[I_UndergroundPanther]

41. This☝️

[Captain Zero]

47. Right. He could walk away from it anytime

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]

25. Of course you probably wouldn't have known about the coal company direct ownership because....

....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]

40. Thanks.

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.

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. I knew he owned a coal mine, didn't know he also owned a sulphur spewing plant as well. Nt

[George II]

32. He owns neither.

[Fiendish Thingy]

34. Do you deny Manchin gets profits from stakes in a coal mine and plant

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]

45. Yes, I "deny" it (what is this, "Law & Order"?) As far as I can tell, he has no stake in either....

....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]

46. Regardless of how you label it, he is a shareholder in the coal industry

And has made millions from it.

[NCjack]

9. LBJ knew how to squeeze until he got "yes, Master, how many bags full."

[bottomofthehill]

10. Yep, but until we have the votes there is nothing we can do about it

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]

11. Manchin is also a member of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) which was founded by ...

... 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]

44. Association with ALEC is very bad. As for coal,

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.

[Pepsidog]

13. What a scumbag as is his entire family.

[George II]

31. The DEMOCRATIC Senator from West Virginia is a "scumbag"?

[Pepsidog]

36. Well I know we aren't suppose to criticize democrats on DU but my

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]

14. You notice the deflection Manchin made to Dana Bash

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]

20. And, of course, Dana cut off his head for that.

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]

30. Most of the interviewers have very thin skin and don't want to be embarrassed by being walked out on

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

[George II]

15. Please do some more research about Enersystems. For one thing, their ENTIRE revenue (NOT profit)...

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

Enersystems is not a "coal company".

This Vice article is rife with falsehoods.

[NurseJackie]

16. It's just another opportunity to attack and smear Manchin.

It's ridiculous. It serves no good purpose.

[TiberiusB]

26. Enersystems traffics in several things, but coal is definitely one of them

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]

27. The article is in plain English

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]

51. Asked by two posts and ignored two posts...

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

[onethatcares]

17. that "blind trust"

does that really mean that you have to be blind to trust him?

[Dave Bowman]

35. Lol!

Good one.

[George II]

33. You're calling for the death, "ASAP", of the Democratic Senator from West Virginia?

[dchill]

19. K&R.

[paleotn]

21. Who in the WV power structure isn't?

[Tommymac]

23. 7 Possible Options to make Manchin Irrelevant. He will love that.

Posted this yesterday.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215833948

[calimary]

24. Keeping this one, for absolute sure!

[Sympthsical]

28. Further important reading about these coal interests

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

Lots of verifiable details in that piece.

[Blue Owl]

39. Time for him to get a few lumps in his stocking this Xmas season...

[SMC22307]

42. K&R

[budkin]

43. He's an absolute POS and always has been

It's just that now he's "important."

[brooklynite]

48. Do you need the number for Justice Democrats?

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

[UTUSN]

49. K&R

[housecat]

50. can somebody tell me why a DU administrator told me I broke the rules by critisizing

a Democrat - Manchin. Really?