U.S. Reps. Carol Miller (R-WV), Mike Kelly (R-PA), and Randy Feenstra (R-IA), who serve on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee’s Supply Chains Tax Team, on July 11 hosted a roundtable in Tazewell County, Va., with energy industry stakeholders to discuss the capture and use of coalfield methane as a viable fuel.
The Supply Chain Tax Team is one of 10 new Committee Tax Teams launched in April by the House Ways and Means Committee. Composed of Ways and Means Republicans, the committees will address tax provisions from the 2017 tax cuts that are set to expire in 2025 and identify legislative solutions to continue helping Americans and small businesses.
“Our Supply Chains Tax Team is focused on ensuring energy tax credits are being utilized in the United States,” said Rep. Miller, chairwoman of the Supply Chains Tax Team. “Energy production has been the bedrock of Appalachia for generations, and I’m making sure it stays that way.”
The roundtable included representatives from CNX Resources Corp., a Pittsburgh-based natural gas company with operations in the Appalachian Basin, primarily in the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The company also develops coal-bed methane properties in Virginia along with a methane capture and abatement program.
The lawmakers also toured a mine methane capture facility operated by CNX Resources in southwest Virginia.
“Expanding the Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage tax credit is an important first step to secure our economic and energy success,” Rep. Miller said. “If we can take mine methane emissions and turn them into an energy source, the United States will remain dominant on the global stage.”
Rep. Kelly, chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Tax Subcommittee, said that the tax team’s visit highlights the need for energy policy that can make America a global energy leader, while also demonstrating the important role the United States can play in the global energy supply chain.
“I want to thank Rep. Miller and my colleagues for an insightful tour,” said Rep. Kelly.
Rep. Feenstra also thanked Rep. Miller for arranging the visit with American energy producers.
“Our Supply Chains Tax Team is working on legislative solutions that support domestic energy production and make our country energy independent again,” said Rep. Feenstra. “As we work to reauthorize and improve the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, we must ensure that we support American energy production — including homegrown Iowa biofuels — to lower costs for our families and reduce our reliance on foreign oil and gas.”