The "most powerful man in Washington" just struck again.
West Virginian Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin's nickname might be a bit outdated, since it hails from the pre-midterm election days of a 50-50 Senate when he could pretty much dictate what made it to the president's desk. And Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy did just both flex considerable power in concluding a deal that could stave off a disastrous US debt default by extending the government's borrowing authority until early 2025.
But Manchin was savvy enough -- yet again -- to use the balance of power to get what he wants.
Environmentalists are livid that the coal state senator managed to get a provision inserted in the deal to compel federal agencies to approve all remaining permits for the approximately 300-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline that is set to pump methane across parts of the West Virginia and Virginia.
"All of a sudden, [the White House] did their job, they negotiated. And Kevin McCarthy did his job by putting something first and starting this negotiation. So, I applaud both sides," Manchin said in a Tuesday interview on a West Virginia radio show, "Talkline."
Environmental groups who had already successfully challenged the pipeline in court are now furious to see Congress stepping in. As recently as last month, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down permits for the project on the grounds that they violate the Clean Water Act, as CNN's Ella Nilsen reported.
"They are changing the rules as we are playing the game," Crystal Cavalier-Keck, co-founder of indigenous environmental justice group 7 Directions of Service, told reporters.
Activists accuse Biden of talking a big game on fighting climate change, while being willing to give up individual cases to win political tradeoffs. "For this administration to profess that it cares about environmental justice, and then greenlight Mountain Valley Pipeline while gutting the National Environmental Policy Act, is abhorrent and wrong," Tennessee state lawmaker Justin Pearson, a Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.
To be fair, while Biden may have sacrificed the environment in this instance, he did recommit the US to the Paris Climate accord and previously secured billions of dollars in green energy funding in his infrastructure bill.
Manchin meanwhile appears to have notched up another win for carbon interests in his state. And it just happens to come as he considers whether to run for reelection again in 2024, when his opponent could potentially be another wily West Virginia pol and carbon baron -- Republican Gov. Jim Justice.
Manchin might infuriate liberals and his colleagues, but his conservative Democratic principles meant he was able to win his previous election race in 2018 in a state that Donald Trump won by a Country Roads mile two years previously. His seat meant that Democrats had the edge -- with Vice President Kamala Harris and her deciding vote in a deadlocked 50-50 Senate -- for the first two years of Biden's term. And that's when the president's big climate plans made it into law.
There are two criticisms no Republican will be able to level against Manchin in 2024 if he decides to run: The man knows how to deliver for his state. And he's well aware of the price of his vote.
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