An eruption of discontentment has rattled the environmentalist community as the recently brokered US debt ceiling deal paints a grim picture for the planet and our ongoing fight against climate change. Amidst the intricate political dance, the deal has managed to speed up the approval process for a contentious gas pipeline project in West Virginia, simultaneously curtailing the environmental review process for future developments.
A particular bone of contention within the agreement, orchestrated between President Joe Biden and House Republicans, is the green-lighting of the Mountain Valley pipeline. The deal tags this pipeline as a “national interest” project, fast-tracking its permits within 21 days and setting up a shield against legal challenges from objectors.
For environmentalists, this is a hard pill to swallow. They warn that the 300-mile pipeline, set to transport fracked gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia, could endanger hundreds of waterways, damage pristine landscapes (including the neighboring Appalachian trail), and further fuel the climate crisis.
Peter Anderson, Virginia policy director at Appalachian Voices, expressed his outrage quite succinctly: “Singling out the Mountain Valley pipeline for approval in a vote about our nation’s credit limit is an egregious act.” The potential fallout? A suspension of rules for a pipeline company with a tainted track record, undermining legal protections, procedural fairness, and environmental justice for communities along the pipeline’s path.
The Mountain Valley pipeline, despite securing critical approval to cut through a stretch of forest, remains mired in legal challenges from green groups and nearby residents, whose lands are threatened by the project. But it seems that Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a centrist Democrat with significant ties to the gas pipeline industry, may have tipped the scales in favor of the pipeline’s construction.
Biden’s administration has spun the debt ceiling deal as one that safeguards key climate victories, such as the numerous clean energy provisions in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. But the agreement’s glaring omissions are troubling – no concrete steps to speed up the expansion of electricity transmission, a critical factor in facilitating the shift to renewables, and a bowing to Republican demands to limit environmental reviews.
Alarmingly, the deal proposes to limit the National Environmental Policy Act reviews to just two years for federal projects.
Discontent is growing among environmental groups, who feel let down by Biden’s administration’s continued support for large fossil fuel projects. Jean Su, energy justice program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, called Biden’s negotiation a “colossal error” that sacrifices climate and working-class families. Their unified message to Congress? Reject the current debt deal in favor of one that puts the planet first.
So here we are, folks. On one hand, we have a debt ceiling deal deemed necessary for the nation’s economy. On the other, we have clear signs of an environment on the brink. We can’t help but ask: at what cost does this deal come? It’s a question our representatives in Congress need to consider carefully this week.
