President Joe Biden on Thursday put out a statement in support of a permitting reform proposal pushed by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., backing a shaky effort to pass the measure before Congress leaves Washington in the coming days.
Manchin’s proposal, which would speed permits for natural gas pipelines and other energy projects, was a promise from Democrats in exchange for the senator’s support of the sweeping climate, health care and tax bill passed earlier this year.
But both progressives and Republican lawmakers have resisted supporting the bill.
The reform measure would boost a pipeline project in Manchin’s home state and Virginia, and the senator has urged his colleagues to pass it as part of the 2023 defense bill this week.
“I support Senator Manchin’s permitting reform proposal as a way to cut Americans’ energy bills, promote U.S. energy security, and boost our ability to get energy projects built and connected to the grid,” Biden said in a statement Thursday.
“Today, far too many projects face delays — keeping us from generating critical, cost-saving energy needed by families and businesses across America. That’s an impediment to our economic growth, for creating new jobs, and for lessening our reliance on foreign imports,” he added.
Permitting reform was left out of the version of the defense bill passed by the House last week, meaning there are few opportunities for it to get through before the Congress wraps up its legislative session next week.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that it would get a vote in the Senate this week.
But it’s unclear whether it could get the 60 votes needed to pass.
The permitting measure is controversial because it would fund the contentious Mountain Valley pipeline, meaning many liberal lawmakers oppose it.
And Manchin has said he believes GOP lawmakers oppose the measure because it would look like an endorsement of the Inflation Reduction Act – the sweeping, Democrats-only climate bill.
Manchin released a rewrite of the measure this month, tightening some of the approval deadlines for energy projects.
“There has never been a more critical time in our nation’s history for Congress to act to protect American energy security and reclaim energy independence,” he wrote in a statement. “I cannot go home and explain to West Virginians why the Senate would fail to support creating new energy jobs, producing more energy, and enhancing American energy security quickly.”
But despite the new backing from the president, its passage is still an uphill battle.
“It is critical to improve the permitting process so we can produce and deliver energy to consumers in all parts of the country,” Biden said Thursday.
“The Congress promised the American people a more reliable, affordable, sustainable, ‘made in the USA’ energy future when it passed the Inflation Reduction Act,” he continued. “Congress can help keep that promise and advance our energy future by passing Senator Manchin‘s permitting reform legislation.”
