Notes from Underground
On the Future of Democracy and the Environment: The Mountain Valley Pipeline
by Adam Arnold
Democracy and environmental protection in the United States face common challenges, namely the influence of money on politics and the tendency of industry to concern itself with short-term profit rather than long-term sustainability and public safety.
Senator Manchin: A Democrat Opposed to Democracy
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) illuminates these concerns admirably. His machinations and his opportunistic reliance on an ethically-suspect Supreme Court have paid off for him, at the expense of the environment and the voting public.
The Supreme Court’s approval of construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVPL), which will transport natural gas from West Virginia through Virginia to North Carolina, gave the win to Senator Manchin, who threatened to explode 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) unless it left room for fossil fuel projects like the MVPL.
Hailed as the best effort yet to address climate change, the IRA is falling short of its potential through the undue influence of Senator Manchin and other short-sighted public officials, and their corporate backers. Since the IRA’s passage, Manchin has railed against its implementation regarding green energy projects, seemingly forgetting that combatting climate change is a principal goal of the IRA.
The Senator then proceeded to double down on his anti-democratic ideals, not only coercing funding for the MVPL into...
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