Manchin’s Coal Conflict of Interest Can’t Be Mentioned

Manchin’s Coal Conflict

Can’t Be Mentioned

The pivotal role of Sen. Joe Manchin

in climate policy is often discussed in

corporate media—but the fact that

Manchin made $492,000 last year

selling coal to power companies

(Sludge, 7/1/21) is almost never

mentioned. In four months of coverage, FAIR’s Julie Hollar (7/27/21)

found only two references to

Manchin’s coal brokerage firm,

Enersystems (New Yorker, 6/28/21;

New York Times, 6/28/21)—and

both mentions implied that his

conflict of interest was in the past.

Extra! The Newsletter of FAIR—The Media Watch Group October 2021 Vol. 34, No. 8 

Senator Joe Manchin has finally named his requirement for passing the reconciliation package: Sacrifice the climate.

Not only is Manchin demanding that the budget for the bill be cut by more than half, he says that any environmental portion must exempt coal, oil, and gas from penalties and must preserve subsidies for the polluters.¹

This comes as no surprise, considering Manchin has received more campaign donations from the fossil fuels sector than any other senator and owns up to $5 million in a coal-based corporation.²

Manchin must not be allowed to drag the Senate into betraying the climate and the country. We’re rallying grassroots pressure on Congress to stand up to not only Manchin, but all the other corporate Democrats, and demand that they pass bold climate action this year. And we’re letting the public know just which industries each of them are beholden to and calling out their motives.

--Demand Progress e-mail of Sun, Oct 3, 2021