News

Announcement from Dean Joyce McConnell

It is an exciting time at West Virginia University under the leadership of one of the nation’s top university presidents. President Gee loves West Virginia, as do I. As a team, we will work tirelessly to make WVU an even more exemplary land-grant university.

Thank you – all of you – for everything you have done to make this an excellent law school. We did this together and will continue to be a team.

Your friend,

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA—The  Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at the West Virginia University College of Law will be analyzing the Environmental Protection Agency’s new plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants.

Teaming up with Downstream Strategies, a Morgantown-based environmental consulting firm, the Center will be working on a project titled “Carbon Dioxide Emission Reduction Opportunities for the West Virginia Power Sector.” They will explore the various strategies available to West Virginia to comply with the EPA’s Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule.

“West Virginia has an abundance of energy resources including coal, natural gas, biomass, wind, solar, and energy efficiency,” said  James Van Nostrand, director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development. “The challenge is to use the right mix of these resources to ensure that West Virginia can achieve compliance with the new emission standards in the lowest cost manner to minimize the disruption to the state’s economy.”

The Plan, released on June 2, identifies a series of pollution reduction measures to lower carbon dioxide emission from the U.S. power sector. It intends to cut emission by 30 percent of 2005 levels by 2030. For West Virginia, that means reducing emission rates by 21 percent by 2030, from a 2012 baseline.