We had not planned to revisit the epic battle over the fate of Mountain Valley Pipeline quite so soon.
Two weeks ago (Sept. 12, “Property owners feel like political sacrifices”) we noted that the MVP natural gas pipeline project has a serious public relations problem, further inflamed by the dramatic intervention of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, the most conservative Democrat in the U.S. Senate and arguably the most powerful senator given that body’s 50-50 partisan split.
In this era of deep political divides, Democrats can’t deploy Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie vote if Manchin bucks the party consensus, which set up his ploy to grant his team a climate change legislation win if they agreed to back his efforts to fast-track MVP to completion.
Compelling arguments exist for increasing natural gas supply, and proponents of MVP tout the project as necessary for enabling regional economic development and reducing energy costs for consumers. (For an example, consider the commentary “Finish the Mountain Valley Pipeline” by Roanoke Gas President and CEO Paul Nester that was published in Sunday’s editorial page.)
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Blaming the project’s opponents for the years of delays since construction began somewhat sidesteps the fact that judges from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals keep finding merits in the opponents’ arguments.
Manchin’s announced intention to move jurisdiction over MVP to a supposedly friendlier federal court broadcasts a message that, because hearts and minds have not been swayed, and because legal standards have not been met (at least as the 4th Circuit saw it), the senator has chosen to treat MVP like that bad-tasting medicine pill that a reluctant pet won’t swallow, and do what it takes to ram that pill down.
Wednesday, Manchin released his proposed legislation, and because of that the unswayed can now officially add Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Richmond Democrat, and Southwest Virginia Rep. Morgan Griffith, a Salem Republican, to their membership roster.
Mind you, neither Kaine nor Griffith is rejecting MVP per se; they’re objecting to the way Manchin’s proposal singles out the pipeline for an extraordinary level of special treatment.
“You can’t just come in and run roughshod because you want this particular pipeline,” Griffith told the Roanoke Times.
In a video statement, Kaine succinctly broke down the solid Manchin’s bill attempts for MVP. “To be unhappy with a court and say, ‘You know what, here’s what I want. I want Congress to pass a special bill to require that I get permits for my project, to insulate those permits from the normal administrative review, to insulate many of the permits from any kind of judicial review, [and] also guarantee that if there’s ever any other lawsuits about this project, the 4th Circuit that is the circuit court where the project is being constructed has no ability to consider the case’ … that is unprecedented.”
Kaine made his position clear. “It’s just a bridge too far and I’m going to oppose it.”
He expressed hope that the offending section about MVP will be struck from the bill, saying he found merit in the more general permitting process reforms contained in earlier sections.
The fate of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022 is far from certain, with opposition coming from both sides of the aisle. On the other hand, the Biden Administration has issued a full-throated endorsement. “Today, far too many energy projects face delays — keeping us from generating and shipping critical, cost-saving clean energy to families and businesses across America. This is an important step forward to further unlock the potential of these projects and the good-paying jobs they support,” reads a statement on the White House website.
With results very much pending, MVP supporters might consider that Manchin’s methods are cause for dismay, not cheers.
