The New York Times published a long article the other day about the most powerful Democrat in the United States, filibuster champion Joe Manchin III. The chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is a savvy, Maserati driving, yacht dwelling man of the people who has made his personal fortune in the fossil fuel game. You might consider this a conflict of interest, a coal baron funded by Big Oil sitting athwart all plans to curtail the devastation being caused by the burning of these highly polluting, though lucrative to some, energy sources, but, as the New York Times points out, no laws seem to have been broken. It is a great benefit to have the laws carefully vetted by fossil fuel lobbyists, and studied by fossil fuel-enriched lawmakers of discernment like Manchin, lest the federal government use its power to coerce them into actions that disadvantage them in their God-given pursuit of happiness.

Here’s the Grey Lady with Senator Joe Manchin’s Conflict of Interest; how the West Virginia lawmaker intervened on behalf of a coal plant and made millions along the way.

At every step of his political career, Senator Joe Manchin III has helped a West Virginia power plant that is the sole customer of his private coal business, including by blocking ambitious climate action.

A Times investigation has revealed the strands of the unusual relationship between Mr. Manchin and that especially dirty power plant, showing just how entwined they are.

Mr. Manchin…