With a 50-50 split Senate, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), a conservative Democrat, will play a key role in any legislation passed to promote renewable energy because, according to Professor Barry Rabe, West Virginia's economy is heavily dependent on "energy production, and that’s been coal, oil and natural gas.” Rabe added that "It’s pretty hard if you’re going to be representing a state like West Virginia that you get way out ahead … on anything that would challenge the dominance of fossil fuels.”
