It supposedly sealed the deal for Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) essential vote for the Inflation Reduction Act: He was allegedly promised passage of separate legislation that would make it easier for energy projects to get through the federal government’s stringent permitting process.
Now, as many predicted, that deal appears dead.
“Why should Democrats deliver the Republican agenda on these issues when they’re unified in voting against everything?” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) told Rachel Frazin.
Grijalva further indicated he would do everything in his power to keep the permitting reform out of any larger legislation to fund the government at the end of the year.
The United States currently has some of the highest construction costs for infrastructure projects in the entire world. A big reason why is the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act, which empowers environmental activists to go to federal court to stop any infrastructure project that receives a single dime of federal money. These lawsuits can take years, causing unnecessary delays and driving up the cost of infrastructure projects.
Manchin’s permitting reform legislation would greenlight some specific projects and also set a time limit for all NEPA challenges in federal court. This would make the construction of all energy projects, both renewable and fossil fuel projects, easier and less expensive.
Environmentalists hate that.
“There is simply no excuse for Democrats who care about the climate to support a toxic giveaway that amounts to little more than a fossil fuel wish list,” Evergreen Action Executive Director Jamal Raad said in a statement about Manchin’s permitting bill.
Manchin’s approval rating in West Virginia has fallen 30 points since he sold out his state by voting for the Inflation Reduction Act. As it becomes apparent just how badly Manchin got played in this deal, that number could fall further.
