Manchin: Green New Deal ‘a Dream’ – You Can’t Just Say You Won’t Use Coal, Natural Gas, and Oil

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Cuomo Primetime,” Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said the Green New Deal is a “dream.” He further stated that you can’t say you won’t use coal, natural gas, and oil and expressed support for finding ways to remove CO2.

Manchin said, “Chris, first of all, the Green New Deal is a dream. … And that’s fine. People should have dreams, in the perfect world what they would like to see. I’ve got to work with the realities and I’ve got to work with the practical, what I have in front of me. I’ve got to make sure our country has affordable, dependable, reliable energy 24/7. But you can’t just be a denier and say, well, I’m not going to use coal. I’m not going to use natural gas. I’m not going to use oil. And you have to understand also, the climate, we talk about global climate. … How do we bring on China and India and everybody else, who are great users of carbon right now, and polluters of carbon, to be carbon-free also by using technology?”

Manchin also asked, “[D]on’t you think we ought to find ways that we can remove the CO2 in an affordable fashion and reuse this energy?”

He further stated, “I can tell you that what the miners have done and what coal has done for this country is something that we should be able to honor. We don’t have to — if there’s another dependable, reliable fuel that runs 24/7, let me know.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett