Senator Joe Manchin boasts the ‘coal market has never been hotter’

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Democratic Senator Joe Manchin boasted about the price of coal in West Virginia during a hearing on energy prices Tuesday.

"I can tell you, the coal market in West Virginia has never been hotter," Mr Manchin said.

Mr Manchin's wealth is built on coal companies. He owns holdings valued between $1m and $5m in Enersystems, Inc, a coal brokerage firm that he founded. Last year he made $491,000 from his holdings at the company, which doubles his annual Senate salary.

Social media users were predictably unimpressed by the senator's boasting, pointing out his closeness to the industry and the fact that outside of supply chain issues causing a natural gas shortage as winter approaches, the world is still battling to get a handle on the climate crisis, which is only worsened by coal burning.

Coal prices have leapt to their highest levels in 12 years as power suppliers opt for the pollution-heavy fossil fuel instead of natural gas, which has doubled in cost due to supply chain disruptions. Though coal has seen a momentary revival, it is likely to be temporary.

Along with Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Mr Manchin has faced waves of criticism for constantly undermining Democratic policy goals, particularly in the case of federal spending or reforming the filibuster to advance President Joe Biden’s agenda.

Craig Holman, a lobbyist for left-leaning watchdog group Public Citizen, told CNN that Mr Manchin is a "walking conflict of interest”.

"And what makes it all the more troubling is that he's the 50th Democratic senator, which gives him enormous sway over climate change policy," he said.

Mr Manchin has already vowed that he will not support any bills that threaten the oil and natural gas industries, which puts him at odds with Mr Biden's promise during the Glasgow climate summit to cut methane emissions by 30 per cent over the next nine years.

Mr Biden hopes to achieve the cut by raising taxes on methane, but Mr Manchin could thwart the plan, which experts warn could undermine Mr Biden's credibility as a climate leader in the eyes of other heads of state.

“Allies are wondering about America’s global leadership when presidents make promises but aren’t able to carry them out. It casts doubts on US governance and the ability to deliver on pledges,” Darrell West, vice president of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, told The Hill.

Mr Manchin has maintained that he has “been in full compliance with Senate ethics and financial disclosure rules,” and that he will continue “to work to find a path forward on important climate legislation that maintains American leadership in energy innovation and critical energy reliability.”