In recent weeks and months, much has been written about global climate change, not just in The State Journal, but in publications around the world.

While some people would prefer to continue to argue over whether global warming is actually taking place, I believe we should be focusing on how to ensure that West Virginia's resources are part of the solution.

The fact of the matter is that climate change is occurring. As West Virginians, we have so much to gain if we can be proactive now and much to lose if we continue to instead deny that global warming is happening.

That is why I am particularly disappointed in the recent commentary by Henry Payne (The State Journal, Feb. 9), which seems to focus on protecting ExxonMobil and its discredited scientists rather than focusing on what I see as West Virginia's opportunity to be part of the global solution.

It has been widely reported that from 1998-2005 ExxonMobil paid out $16 million to 43 non-profits to support non-peer-reviewed research denying the very existence of global warming. For instance, the company gave $20,000 to the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition -- an organization created by Phillip Morris in the 1990s to generate scientific controversy over the effect of second-hand smoke and lung cancer. Their former executive director, Steven Milloy, has called global warming a hoax.

The good news is that ExxonMobil officials have finally begun to join the rest of the industry in acknowledging that global warming is a reality and human activity is a major cause of it. Even better, ExxonMobil now seems ready to focus not on whether these things are happening but, rather, what we should be doing about it.

In my view, a central part of the answer is promoting clean coal.

Coal produces 50 percent of the nation's electricity, and as The State Journal pointed out last week, "20 percent of West Virginia's budget is tied to the coal industry; and, one out of eight jobs is directly or indirectly tied to the industry."

We can and must see the global warming debate as a new economic opportunity for our state. If we can grab the momentum, coal -- clean coal -- can become even more important to the nation's energy needs.

For starters, Congress should invest in clean-coal technologies and provide federal funding to upgrade the current generation of older coal-burning plants to cleaner, more efficient coal-fired plants. This is technology that is proven -- and protects both the environment and our economy.

Additionally, I continue to support voluntary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and a cap on those byproducts at 2000 levels if our industries are given sufficient lead time. We must also invest in technologies that allow the recapture of coal mine methane, a potent contributor to greenhouse gases.

We should resist the temptation to enact "carbon taxes" -- which I oppose -- but we should set a goal of producing electricity from coal that is carbon neutral in the next 20 years.

Change is never easy. But West Virginians have always found the will to innovate and adapt to the times. I believe that if we can bring that same spirit to the debate on global warming then we can be an important part of the solution -- one that protects our cherished natural resources: our land and our people.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has been a member of the United States Senate since 1985. He served as governor of West Virginia from 1977 to 1985.