Sen. Joe Manchin’s new permitting bill includes something for everyone … to hate.
The West Virginia Democrat’s long-awaited proposal, which he released late Wednesday, offers an expedited timeline for permitting all types of critical energy infrastructure and would accelerate the approval of some specific fossil fuel projects. It would remove significant hurdles to adding wind and solar power to the nation’s grid while also limiting the scope of environmental reviews under the Clean Water Act.
In other words, it’s chock-full of provisions that have made political enemies of friends and friends of political foes.
Democratic leaders promised Manchin they would advance his permitting priorities in exchange for his crucial backing of President Joe Biden’s new climate law. But gathering support for the senator’s measure is likely to prove an uphill battle.
Clean energy provisions
The bill would make it much easier for the country to add wind and solar power to the grid. Currently, getting approval for long-range power lines that can move energy from remote areas to population centers — a major hurdle for clean power — is a long, arduous process that has a history of failure.
That has made the bill popular among clean energy developers, a number of Democratic lawmakers and the White House. But that section is a deal-breaker for many conservatives who say it could override state-level opposition to a proposed project.
Republican lawmakers are not alone in their opposition. Progressives and many environmental groups are against it too.
Fossil fuel wish list
That’s because the bill would neuter two tools environmentalists rely on to stall, and sometimes tank, fossil fuel projects. Proposed amendments to the Clean Water Act would make it harder for states and tribes to assess projects, and the bill limits reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The measure would also expedite offshore oil leases, drawing the ire of progressives and environmentalists who say the proposal amounts to a fossil fuel wish list.
The provision that has garnered perhaps the most vocal opposition is a mandate for agencies to approve the contentious Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline project from West Virginia to Virginia. Moderate Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia told reporters that was a deal-breaker for him.
The odds of advancing
Manchin told reporters last week that he needs 20 Republican votes for the measure to pass. But members of the party have remained tepid, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called the bill “weak, reform-in-name-only legislation.”
Democratic leaders had planned to attach the proposal to a spending bill that lawmakers must pass by Sept. 30 to keep the government from shutting down, but they may consider them separately. Eighty House progressives have said they would vote down the spending measure if it includes Manchin’s plan.
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That’s it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
