Joe Manchin’s Save MVP Bill is Crashing & Burning, Rs & Ds Oppose
It appears that Sen. Joe Manchin’s “save MVP bill” (otherwise known as the permitting reform bill) is crashing and burning. No official language or text of the bill has been released. Yet. Why is that? Manchin extracted a promise from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that a bill to finish up Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and streamline permitting for future pipeline projects would be brought to a vote and passed–IF old Joe voted in favor of the horrible Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a bill (now law) that damages the fossil fuel industry. Joe got rolled. He voted to pass the IRA, and now more than one-third of House Democrats and at least one Senate Democrat (crazy Bernie Sanders) have pledged to vote against Manchin’s bill, leaving him high and dry with nothing to show for his sellout on IRA. So Manchin turned to Republicans to save his tattered reputation–and they aren’t having it. Republicans refuse to reward Manchin’s sellout. Manchin calls it “revenge politics.” We call it eating the excrement sandwich you prepared for yourself, Joe.
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Never believe that the government can do anything quickly–except destroy an economy. Nearly a year ago, President Biden signed into law the so-called Infrastructure bill, some $1.2 trillion in pork barrel spending, passed with the help of turncoat Republicans (see 
While mainstream media is trying to convince you that the Democrats have a real chance of holding onto the House and Senate in the November election, don’t believe it. It’s not true. What you can expect to see and hear in news reports in the coming weeks are stories about “what if” the Republicans do win back majorities in both chambers–because they can’t afford to be so obviously wrong when there’s a Republican landslide. Expect to see stories asking, What will happen next? What about how a Republican sweep impacts the recently passed (misnamed) Infrastructure Reduction Act? And how does Republican control impact the so-called Infrastructure bill passed last year? S&P Global tackles those questions, saying Republicans have options to slow down, counter, and mute those idiotic bills. We pray to God it happens.
In June, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about Germany buying LNG from Canada (see 
Since the beginning of Joe Manchin’s so-called “side deal” to vote on a bill that will reform the permitting process for infrastructure projects including the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), Republicans in the Senate (and House) have called on Manchin and Chuck Schumer to release actual language of the bill that will be voted on. You know, release it at least a week or two before it gets voted on, instead of two hours before (which is the Democrats’ typical routine). So far, NOTHING from Manchin and Schumer. So on Monday, Manchin’s fellow U.S. Senator from West Virginia, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, introduced her own version of a permitting reform bill. The bill has the support of 45 Republican Senators so far (38 of them co-sponsored).
Last December, Virginia’s newly-elected governor, Glenn Youngkin, said that as soon as he took office, he would use his executive power to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (see 
On Friday, Paul Cicio, CEO of Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA), representing America’s largest manufacturing companies, sent a letter to Congress making the case that federal agencies (FERC and NERC) should have the responsibility to secure reliable and affordable access to natural gas, mainly through dramatic growth in pipeline infrastructure. The letter says FERC should be required to address any reliability concerns by expediting pipeline permits and promoting (not restricting) construction–potentially by asking for Presidential emergency powers!
A new Bank of America Global Research report calls the so-called Biden Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) the most important, and largest, federal green energy and climate package in U.S. history. It also says rather than reduce inflation, the IRA will increase inflation because government spending will increase, regulations will restrict supply chains, and the result is that prices, especially for energy, will soar. The IRA is another sterling example of why the free market (capitalism) is preferred over government command-and-control (Communistic) intervention.
Pat McDonnell, who was Tom Wolf’s Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) until July 2nd, has just become the President and CEO of a major PA anti-shale environmental group–PennFuture. McDonnell’s appointment at PennFuture raises disturbing questions about some of the decisions he made during his tenure at DEP. That McDonnell immediately became employed by one of the biggest detractors of and litigators against the DEP indicates McDonnell may have had an anti-drilling agenda and deep conflicts of interest while he served at the DEP. Was McDonnell a wolf in sheep’s clothing (no pun intended)? Was McDonnell Big Green’s inside man at DEP? Will there be an investigation of McDonnell and the decisions he made as head of the DEP? We certainly hope so.
Joe Manchin, U.S. Senator from West Virginia (now wildly unpopular in his home state) continues to have a tough time sealing the deal on a permitting reform bill that will help the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) get done. Manchin traded his integrity away by voting to approve the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (a Big Green giveaway) in return for a vote on a bill to streamline the permitting of oil and gas projects like (and including) MVP. The Dems snookered Manchin into voting for the IRA with big promises, but now they don’t want to vote for his permitting bill, breaking those promises. Manchin needs help, and he’s turning to the oil and gas industry, hoping we will pressure Republican House and Senate members into helping him out. Don’t hold your breath, Joe.
Quick…grab the paddles! The patient is still alive and needs to be shocked and revived! The patient we’re talking about is New Fortress Energy’s (NFE) Repauno Port and Rail Terminal on the shoreline of the Delaware River in Gibbstown, N.J. We thought the project to build a new dock for cargo ships to load and export LNG from the facility was pretty much dead after NFE withdrew a request to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing, PA, earlier this year–a plant that would have fed the export operation on the Delaware River (see 
Back in March, MDN told you about a bill passed by the West Virginia legislature, Senate Bill (SB) 694, which finally brings forced pooling for shale wells to the Mountain States after eight years of trying (see 
Another update on the uphill battle Joe Manchin faces in getting his “side deal” legislation passed that will help Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) get done. Manchin agreed to vote for the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in return for a “permitting reform” bill, to be voted on in September, as the price for his vote. We told you it was a bad deal for many reasons–one of which is that Manchin may never get his vote. On Friday, 72 Democrat members of the House of Representatives signed a letter (copy below) to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer opposing the Manchin “side deal” legislation. Yeah, it didn’t but a few weeks for the Dems to welsh on their deal with Manchin. It appears that Manchin got rolled.