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There is no doubt West Virginia has contributed much about which we can be proud to building and powering our country and the world. A new exhibit planned for the West Virginia State Capitol Complex will celebrate that history in an outdoor complex called "West Virginia: Nature Designs a State that Fuels a Nation."
According to the Governor's Office the exhibit is part of the America 250 WV "legacy project." And while the name might lead visitors to believe they are about to learn about coal, oil and natural gas, the project will highlight 11 industries. Iron and steel, clay, chemicals, salt, agriculture, timber, glass, water, and railroads will get their displays, too.
There will be large items such as a steam locomotive and coal shuttle car in the exhibit that will also include a scenic pathway and waterfall, along with display cases for artifacts from each industry.
There was no mention of how much this project will cost, in the news release from the Governor's Office that detailed the ground-breaking ceremony at which Gov. Jim Justice was joined by cabinet secretary for the state Department of Arts, Culture and History Randall Reid-Smith and natural resource industry leaders. But no doubt it will be a fascinating addition to the West Virginia State Museum's look at our past.
Those who have done such a wonderful job on the state museum's honest exhibits must not, however, allow this new addition to give the impression that what we have been defines what we must always be.
Certainly, there is much of which we can be proud. But we can also celebrate that we live in a state that was designed to produce winds whisking so briskly across the eastern mountains that they move hundreds of turbines to produce electricity. We live in a state for which federal officials have just released the first $30 million of an expected $925 million for the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub. We live in a state where the people are capable of anything to which they put their minds and their hard work.
Nature did design a state that could power a nation, here. But we call it Almost Heaven because that was just the start of all we can be if we decide to use those beginnings to launch us into an even brighter future.