When former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he would spend $500 million on a Beyond Carbon initiative, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice joined energy industry representatives at a press conference to denounce the effort. The project Justice criticized aspires to retire all coal use by 2030 while securing an economic future for fossil […]
Read MoreFact Check
To help you find the truth in West Virginia politics, reporters and researchers from PolitiFact West Virginia examine statements by elected officials and candidates – and anyone else who speaks up on matters of public importance – provides context for those statements and then rates their accuracy according to PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter. PolitiFact West Virginia is a partnership of 100 Days in Appalachia, Pulitzer Prize winning PolitiFact and the Reed College of Media at West Virginia University.
Shelley Moore Capito Correct on Suicides in West Virginia
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., recently sought to raise awareness about suicide, focusing on its toll in her home state. “On average, one person dies by suicide every 22 hours in West Virginia,” Capito said in a Facebook post on Sept. 19. She went on to note her efforts with two Senate […]
Read MoreFact-check: How Low is Gov. Jim Justice’s Approval Rating in West Virginia?
Recent news reports have suggested that West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice — who faces both Republican and Democratic challengers in his bid for a second term in 2020 — has one of the lowest approval ratings of any governor in the country. For instance, WHSV-TV reported, “Gov. Jim Justice’s approval rating 2nd […]
Read MoreFact-check: Is Murray Energy the Nation’s Largest Coal Company?
Murray Energy Corp., a major player in the coal-mining industry, declared bankruptcy in late October, sending shockwaves across coal-dependent regions of West Virginia and neighboring states. In addition to putting coal employment at risk, the company is the last major employer contributing to the United Mine Workers of America’s pension plan. With such a […]
Read MoreFact-checking Ethylene Production in the U.S.
Three U.S. House members from West Virginia have proposed creating an Appalachian Storage Hub to store and transport large amounts of natural gas liquids in the region. One of those House members is West Virginia Republican David McKinley. In a news release announcing House Resolution 4433 — the Appalachian Regional Energy Hub Initiative — […]
Read MoreHow Many West Virginia Students are Homeless?
West Virginia has an unacceptably large number of K-12 students who are homeless, according to a Facebook post by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. In the Sept. 9 Facebook post, Manchin wrote, the “West Virginia Department of Education reported over 10,000 children & youth have been identified as homeless for the 2018-2019 school […]
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