The idea that WV went GOP because of social conservatism really should be put to rest.
Poor, racist, socially conservative states such as Mississippi and Arkansas were voting GOP long before WV went that way. Reagan and Bush were strong social conservatives, let us not forget as well. Nixon was, too.
It has everything to do with coal. Democrats did not play nearly as much to environmentalism in the era up until the W Presidency. WV and Kentucky rely heavily on coal jobs, and indeed we've seen them swing much harder toward Republicans than the Deep South, and perhaps much harder than anywhere else in the country.
Let me say first of all that I'm DEFINITELY waiting until after 2016 to declare WV a "red state" (at least at the local level), but I think your explanation - which, don't get me wrong, is good - applies a lot more to Presidential elections than it does to other ones.
Also, this won't be well received on this forum, because a lot seem to buy into the narrative that Southern Democrats were more or less conservatives in most senses of the word, but imagine you're a West Virginian (or an Arkansan in 2010, a Georgian in 2004, etc.) and you heard this campaign argument from the Republican candidate:
"Look, I get and respect the Democratic tradition in this state ... But Democrats have had COMPLETE control of everything from the governor's mansion down to the country clerks' offices for decades, and what improvement have we seen?! It's time to try something new!"
How would you react?
Probably the same way I did when they said that in Illinois in 2014. I voted for the Democratic candidate.
But I see the third component you are adding and it is valid.
