|
Senator Joe Manchin removed his permitting reform language from must-pass legislation to fund the federal government yesterday, clearing the funding package's passage in the Senate. The move came after he dropped language in the bill regarding the Clean Water Act in a move to get more Republicans on board with the bill. Still, Manchin came up short in the Senate, in part due to a push by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to sway Republicans to instead support a permitting reform bill filed by the other senator from West Virginia—Republican Shelley Moore Capito.
While it's likely Manchin will continue to push for expedited energy project permitting, it's unclear how he will be able to get it passed in the closely divided Senate, where a 60 vote majority is needed to pass most legislation. That's because anything he does to appease Republicans in the Senate could doom the bill to fail in the House, which is dominated by Democrats who are opposed to permitting reform that would help the fossil fuel industry. Democratic Senator Brian Schatz told the Washington Post yesterday that the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act is the “most likely next viable vehicle” for Manchin's bill. However, Senator James M. Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has said he opposes including permitting reform in the defense bill.
Still, permitting reform enthusiasts aren't giving up. The White House said yesterday that it still “supports Senator Manchin's plan” and will “continue to work with him to find a vehicle to bring this bill to the floor and get it passed and to the President’s desk.” Capito is similarly committed to getting permitting reform through Congress. “This issue is so important that, I think, getting people to the table, we can forge a bipartisan compromise,” she told Politico.
|
Knowing all of the science in the world is not going to save the sage grouse unless we act on it.”
