Manchin made over $500K last year from West Virginia's most polluted coal plant — 'more than twice as much' as senator salary

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) reportedly earned more than $500,000 in profits from one of the most polluting coal power plants in the state of West Virginia, according to VICE News.

Per the publication, Manchin's most recent financial disclosure indicates that he received $492,000 last year from his shares in a coal plant called Enersystems. In addition to the share profits, Manchin also earns a sizable salary as a senator: $174,000, to be exact.

Jim Kotcon, conservation chair of the Sierra Club's West Virginia chapter, weighed in on Manchin's coal selling profits compared to his Senate salary. "He's making more than twice as much selling coal as he is serving as a representative," Kotcon said.

Back in 2018, Kotcon also highlighted the problems associated with coal plants and the type of chemicals they tend to release. "Due to impurities in the waste coal Grant Town Power Plant burns to generate electricity, it releases more sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide per unit of energy than any other of the state's coal plants, according to 2018 calculations from Kotcon," Vice News reports.

Speaking to VICE, Kotcon also said, "In terms of both of those pollutants, it's still the dirtiest plant operating in West Virginia today."

Manchin recently raged against efforts to curb the use of fossil fuels to combat the growing global climate crisis.

"They're eliminating fossils, which is very, very disturbing because if you're sticking your head in the sand, and saying that fossil (fuel) has to be eliminated in America, and they want to get rid of it and thinking that's going to clean up the global climate, it won't clean it up all," he told CNN.