Biden’s greenlighting of fossil fuel pipeline may weaken Democrats’ ability to boost clean energy

The White House has long used a stalled fossil fuel pipeline as a bargaining chip with Republicans in the administration’s efforts to attract GOP support for supercharging renewables by accelerating the nation’s energy permitting laws.

But the Mountain Valley Pipeline can no longer be leveraged by President Biden, thanks to the $6.6 billion natural gas project’s approval getting tucked into the deal reached by Mr. Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend the debt ceiling until January 2025.

The inclusion of the more than 300-mile-long venture that winds through rural Virginia and West Virginia has Democrats fuming and Republicans touting what they say is a strategic advantage that will tip future energy talks about streamlining projects in their favor.

“When the White House put this on the table, there was a lot of discussion on our side thinking about it strategically,” said Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves, a key GOP negotiator in debt-limit talks. “It now is going to be putting Democrats on record supporting judicial limitations on conventional energy projects.”

In addition to the pipeline, Republicans secured time limits for environmental reviews that will speed up proposed energy projects, especially fossil fuels, offering the GOP a clear victory on permitting.

Fast-tracking the nation’s permitting rules is a crucial part of Mr. Biden’s green agenda. However, the electricity transmission component for renewables remains a major sticking point between the two parties.

Mr. Graves said taking the Mountain Valley Pipeline “off the table was ultimately a strategic win for Republicans” was akin to “taking away a carrot that is going to continue to be offered” to influential lawmakers on energy policy, citing West Virginia Sens. Joe Manchin III, a Democrat, and Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican.

The position marked a reversal for House Republicans, who previously opposed singling out specific energy projects.

“The White House and Democrats who are interested in some thoughtful transmission streamlining have a weaker hand now,” Rep. Jared Huffman, California Democrat and climate hawk, told The Washington Times. “They’ve already given up this sort of first round [permitting] concession and the Mountain Valley Pipeline and gotten nothing in return. That’s just sort of Bargaining 101. It makes no sense if your objective is to put yourself in a better position to get transmission.”

The White House argues it came out on top by preventing Republican efforts to roll back billions in green energy spending under Mr. Biden.

Ms. Capito, ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and her Senate GOP colleagues don’t agree with House Republicans that the pipeline will alter future discussions.

“I don’t know how that logic goes,” Ms. Capito told The Times. “I’m still really ready and willing to look at a broader permitting bill, definitely. Through regular order, through the committees.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Republican on the Senate Energy Committee, said the inclusion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline “was more for Manchin than it was anybody else.”

Mr. Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, has for the past year sought for Congress and the administration to sign off on the project after years of delay by court rulings. He is still advocating for broader permitting legislation.

“I think the bottom line is we’re all determined to get [permitting] done,” he said. “We’ve got to for the sake of our country.”

NextEra Energy, one of the companies behind the Mountain Valley Pipeline, has contributed heavily in recent years to the campaigns of Mr. Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat. In the 2022 cycle, Mr. Manchin received $60,350 and Mr. Schumer received $302,600 from NextEra’s employees and political action committee, according to the campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.

Other Democrats, meanwhile, are still crossing their fingers they can win over Republicans on clean energy components of permitting after the GOP’s wins in the debt limit bill.

“We have to make our own case on transmission and permitting going forward. We can’t hold back one thing or another to try to have a carrot when we need it,” Colorado Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper said. “I think we’ve got to make the persuasive argument: Here’s the rate of extreme weather. Here’s what that’s costing us as a country… And here’s how much we can mitigate that by investing in regional transmission lines.”