This blog post is based on analysis by NRDC scientists Dr. Dawn Woodard and Dr. Michele Bustamante, and clean energy expert Tom Rutigliano.
The White House and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy have reached an agreement to extend the U.S. debt limit. As NRDC CEO Manish Bapna said, parts of the proposed legislation are extreme and “make a mockery of the process of responsible public oversight.”
The debt ceiling agreement wrongfully rubber-stamps the destructive and unnecessary Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Their deal includes legislation that attempts to prevent any courts from reviewing the legality of federal or state agency decisions made to approve the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). This means, for example, that if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues a Clean Water Act permit to allow construction of the pipeline in a sensitive river with endangered species, the courthouse doors might be closed to citizens who want to sue the agency for unlawful actions. As Bapna said, it “cuts local voices out of the process and short-circuits laws put in place to protect the public.” It’s a piece of legislation that offers special benefits for only one corporate entity.
The White House told reporters this was justified because “…the project is nearly done anyway—and has cleared almost all its legal hurdles.” Senator Joe Manchin has also claimed in the past that the pipeline is nearly complete.
Claims that the MVP is nearly done, almost built, or has no legal hurdles ahead are false....
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