Ian Patrick, FISM News
In a recent press conference, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin remarked that “politics make strange bedfellows” regarding the bipartisan support for an energy permitting bill he put forward. Unfortunately, the bedfellows might be having a falling out.
A growing number of Republicans in the Senate say they won’t support Joe Manchin’s permitting reform bill for energy provisions because it doesn’t go far enough. More progressive Democrats, meanwhile, oppose the legislation for its focus on starting new non-green energy projects.
This all flies in the face of Manchin, who had presented the bill as a “good piece of legislation that’s extremely balanced” and one he negotiated as part of his support of the Democrat’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Manchin’s bill aims to change the legislative language for energy permits, with the ultimate goal of helping Americans with energy costs such as gas prices. It also includes the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a natural gas system running through West Virginia and Virginia.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised to attach Manchin’s bill to a short-term government funding measure in exchange for the West Virginia Senator’s vote for the Inflation Reduction Act.
Manchin spoke about his bill on the Senate floor on Tuesday saying it would help to address the risk of losing “energy independence and energy security” in the U.S.
“If we’re going to remain the superpower of the world, if we’re the one country that has it all, you better have energy independence,” Manchin said.
“If you can’t produce your own energy and you’re going to ask other people around the world to do what you won’t do yourself, but you have the ability to do it and the resources to do it, God help us all,” he pleaded.
But the bill doesn’t seem to appeal to either side of the energy aisle.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he believes Manchin will “lose Democrats and I think I heard somebody say they can’t count more than nine Republicans,” according to a report from Fox News. “I can’t see how it’s going to pass,” The Hill quoted Cornyn as saying.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) gave his thoughts on the bill, saying “it does as much harm as good, if it does any good at all.” He added that it’s great for anyone who owns “a pipeline in West Virginia,” but otherwise he doesn’t “see a lot of value to it.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) simply said he will vote “no” on the measure because “I get nothing in South Carolina.”
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) added some reasoning to his concerns with the bill, saying, “it doesn’t do the sort of things that we need and I think in certain areas it makes it worse.”
“With the [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] overseeing electricity transmission lines, with giving the fed the right to set prices so you have red states like Wyoming having to subsidize blue state energy like California, and I just can’t support that,” Barrasso added.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) also indicated they would vote against the measure.
More progressive Democrats are also voicing opposition to Manchin’s bill, citing the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. These include Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).
The impasse threatens a must-pass government funding bill scheduled for the floor next week. If one is not passed it could potentially lead to a costly government shutdown.