WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin III’s controversial bill that would make it easier to build new power plants, dams, pipelines, transmission lines, wind turbines and solar farms could get a vote in the Senate as early as Tuesday afternoon.
Groups including the Sunrise Movement and Greenpeace USA are livid, warning that the West Virginia Democrat’s legislation would be a boon for the fossil fuel industry. The bill would set a two-year time limit for environmental reviews for major energy projects, establish a 150-day limit for filing court challenges and mandate that the president create a rolling list of 25 energy projects of “strategic national importance” for quicker review — five of which must be fossil fuel projects.
Green groups are especially irritated that part of the bill would fast track the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a nearly complete 300-mile pipeline that would carry natural gas from Manchin’s home state to southern Virginia.
