Re: 72 Democrats sign letter opposing Manchin permitting bill

[Bill Steele]

In article <t15aeh$2qk5i$3...@news.freedyn.de>
David Hartung <kicking....@Hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Joe bent over and took it up the ass.
>

Party leaders promised Manchin a vote on his bill in return for
his support of the Democrats’ climate, health care and tax law

Seventy-two House Democrats said Friday they oppose including
legislation to change federal permitting laws in a funding bill
to keep the government running at the end of September, teeing
up a clash with party leadership.

In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House
Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., the lawmakers said a
proposal to overhaul permitting laws, rewrite the Clean Water
Act and approve a gas pipeline should not be folded into the so-
called continuing resolution, or CR, to fund the government in
the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

To secure the vote of Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., on
Democrats’ signature climate, health care and tax law, Senate
Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed to hold a
vote on a separate bill from the West Virginian this month.

“We remain deeply concerned that these serious and detrimental
permitting provisions will significantly and disproportionately
impact low-income communities, indigenous communities, and
communities of color,” the House Democrats wrote. “We urge you
to ensure that these provisions are kept out of a continuing
resolution or any other must-pass legislation this year.”

Though the House Democrats stopped short of pledging to vote
against legislation to fund the government, the Manchin proposal
has drawn blowback from liberal members in both chambers. Party
leaders would almost certainly have to get votes from
Republicans to secure passage if those Democrats could not be
counted on.

Manchin’s office released a summary of the bill in August,
before the Senate voted to pass Democrats’ sweeping legislation.

West Virginia pipeline
The Manchin proposal, which Schumer said Wednesday was included
in funding legislation to keep the government open, requires the
completion of a gas pipeline that would run about 300 miles
between West Virginia and southern Virginia.

The permitting bill, for which the text has not been made
public, would also modify the Clean Water Act, establish
statutes of limitations on environmental lawsuits and set
timelines on how long environmental reviews for large industrial
projects can take.

In a speech Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., criticized the
proposal, saying it would greenlight fossil fuel projects at a
time when climate scientists are recording perilous temperatures
and rising greenhouse gas levels worldwide.

Manchin has said an overhaul of federal permitting laws is vital
to construct new generations of low- and zero-emissions power
sources, such as wind and solar, adding that the country relies
on fossil fuel sources today.

Schumer said Wednesday he will “absolutely” try to attach the
permitting proposal to the continuing resolution.

The text of Friday’s letter, which House Natural Resources
Chairman Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., organized, is the same as
that in a letter the Arizonan sent with colleagues late last
month.

While most of the signatures came from the party’s liberal bloc,
Lindsay Gressard, a spokesperson for Democrats on the Natural
Resources Committee, said 19 of the members who signed were not
from the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

https://rollcall.com/2022/09/09/72-democrats-sign-letter-
opposing-manchin-permitting-bill/