The Senate on Dec. 16 blocked Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) attaching amended legislation promoting oil and gas drilling to the National Defense Authorization Act, despite President Joe Biden’s support for it.
Manchin was striving to get his energy measure attached to the defense funding bill, but the 47–47 vote defeated that objective. Sixty votes were required to advance the measure.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) had told Manchin he would force a vote about the legislation to accelerate the approval process of new U.S. energy projects in exchange for Manchin’s support on the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains $369 billion for climate and clean energy.
Known as the Building American Energy Security Act of 2022, Manchin’s amended bill includes multiple adjustments to the original version that Republicans did not support in September.
The changes include stricter deadlines to complete National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews.
Manchin’s new version also gives the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission one year before it can intervene in interstate transmission projects that are considered to be of “national interest” by the secretary of energy.
The amended bill includes provisions that would allow federal agencies to “take all necessary actions” to issue new permits for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would pump natural gas from northwestern West Virginia to an existing pipeline in Virginia.
The project has been stalled by multiple delays.
Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) voted for the bill.
Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Rafael Warnock (D-Ga.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) voted against the measure, as did Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Biden endorsed Manchin’s idea ahead of the vote, saying the legislation was needed to promote energy independence, though one of the president’s first acts in office was ceasing the Keystone XL Pipeline and his administration has emphasized a phase-out of domestic oil and gas production.
“I support Sen. 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. “Today, far too many projects face delays—keeping us from generating critical, cost-saving energy needed by families and businesses across America.”
Manchin’s bill is designed to streamline the oil and gas drilling process. Progressives argued that the legislation is beneficial for fossil fuel companies.
“This would gut bedrock environmental regulations and fast-track fossil fuel projects,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). “I refuse to allow our residents in frontline communities to continue to be sacrificed for the fossil fuel industry’s endless greed.”
Climate advocates expressed anger about Biden’s support for Manchin’s bill.
Basay Sen, the director of the Climate Justice Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, responded to Biden’s statement on Twitter.
“Disgraceful betrayal of environmental justice promises by President Biden,” Sen wrote. “Forget his rhetoric. In practice, he’s showing us he’s (at best) stuck in the Obama administration’s disastrous ‘all of the above’ mindset or, worse still, actively on the side of polluters.”
Manchin’s proposed changes to permitting rules and environmental regulations “would expedite the creation of dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure in communities already reeling from heavy pollution and refinery disasters,” the Green New Deal Network wrote in a tweet.
“Biden owes his midterm victories to these same communities,” the coalition said. “Why is he abandoning them now?”
Sanders wrote on Twitter, “I agree with the 750 environmental and civil rights groups who have told us that given the threat of climate change, it would be unacceptable to build a new fracked gas pipeline and expand fossil fuel extraction across the country.
“I’m opposed to Sen. Manchin’s Big Oil Side Deal.”
Republicans said that support for Manchin’s measure was a reward for the senator after his deciding vote helped pass Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
In September, Republicans blocked an attempt to attach Manchin’s bill to government funding legislation.
Manchin believes the bill will trim energy costs for working families. Biden agrees.
“The Congress promised the American people a more reliable, affordable, sustainable, ’made in the USA' energy future when it passed the Inflation Reduction Act,” Biden said before the vote. “Congress can help keep that promise and advance our energy future by passing Sen. Manchin‘s permitting reform legislation.”
Biden and Manchin are both up for election in 2024.
If he seeks a second term, Biden will try to extend his tenure as the country’s oldest president.
Manchin is considered a moderate voice in a Democratic party that has moved further to the left, and he will try to win re-election in a red state.
Though Democrats maintained control of the Senate after midterm elections, fellow swing-voter Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.) recently announced she was leaving the party to become an Independent.
Manchin has gone against his party’s colleagues on votes for key legislation.
Both senators could have a significant impact in the chamber in 2023 and 2024, considering the current makeup after Warnock defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in the Georgia runoff earlier this month, giving the Democrats an additional seat before Sinema’s decision.
In a statement after the Dec. 16 vote, Manchin criticized Republicans who did not support his measure designed to bolster oil and gas production in the United States.
“Once again, [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell and Republican leadership have put their own political agenda above the needs of the American people,” Manchin said.
“Mitch McConnell and his Republican caucus voted down a bill that would have completed the Mountain Valley Pipeline and quickly delivered natural gas to the market lowering home heating costs for families and making America more energy secure and independent,” Manchin added. “I believe anyone who voted against permitting reform has failed to act in the best interest of our country.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) opposed Manchin’s bill but said he believes “we can get there with some compromises.”
One Democratic lawmaker believes this is not the last time Congress will vote on Manchin’s legislation.
“This is a zombie that will not die,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) “It’s going to be back again and again.”
