Environmental justice activists say plans in Congress to fast-track approval of new fossil fuel infrastructure — part of a controversial side deal struck by Democrats over passing the Inflation Reduction Act — endanger communities in the path of new mega-pipelines and export terminals. The organizers state that these projects would almost guarantee climate-warming polluting pollution for decades to follow.
Crystal Mello lives in one of these communities, a rural area just outside of Elliston. Mello says her family is fortunate to live outside the “blast zone” — the roughly three-mile radius of a hypothetical explosion caused by an accident along the Mountain Valley Pipeline — but anxiety about this “uniquely risky” pipelineMellow and other locals were forced to cross steep, irregular Appalachian terrain in order to resist the project by Mellow and other activists. Mello, like many volunteers in Appalachia has documented. accidents and safety violationsOver the past four years, at pipeline construction sites
“For folks in my community that will never be able to afford an electric car, who are worried about insulation during the winter, it doesn’t matter if [the Inflation Reduction Act] is a golden egg or whatever,” Mello said in an interview. “This company still does shitty work.”
Equitrans, one company that built the 300-plus mile fracked gas pipeline, was recently recognized. askedFederal regulators request a four year extension to finish the building divisive and long-delayed projectThe company has been the subject of numerous lawsuits, court injunctions and permit violations, as well as at least one blockade. Thanks to a deal between Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of West Virginia and Sen. Joe Manchin, both Democrats, the company now claims that the pipeline will be completed by 2023.
To secure Manchin’s crucial vote on the Inflation Reduction Act — which represents a crucial slice of President Joe Biden’s agenda that contains a host of popular climate and environmental justice provisions, along with other Democratic priorities — Democrats agreed to pursue separate legislation aimed at speeding up approval and construction of new fossil fuel projects.
The $370 billion deal would be historic in terms of clean energy, electric cars, and other investments. environmental justice communitiesAll investments made by environmentalists are crucial for communities that are being affected by climate change and industrial pollutants. However, activists say “giveaways” to the industry are buried in the bill, and the deal with Manchin would undermine legal tools used by communities to block pipelines and other projects.
A draft outline of the agreement reads: “Complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline.” The proposal would also set deadlines for federal permit reviews and litigation over other new fossil fuel projects, including natural gas export terminals and others of “strategic national importance.” Activists say such legislation would undermine the National Environmental Protect Act (NEPA), a bedrock federal law routinely leveraged by activists and communities threatened by controversial projects.
The compromise proposal needs to pass separately with support from Senate Republicans. These Republicans voted against Inflation Reduction Act. However, they are major proponents for fossil fuels.
Anusha Narayanan (climate campaign director at Greenpeace USA) pointed out that Manchin is a top Senate receiver of contributions from the fossil-fuel industry, including companies invested in the Mountain Valley pipeline, which would transport gas fracked in his state to East Coast for export. NextEra Energy, which holds a stake in the pipeline’s construction, is a major donor to both Manchin SchumerAs reportedBy The New York Times.
“This side deal is Manchin’s sweetheart deal with the fossil fuel industry and a way to appease them,” Narayanan said in an interview. “NEPA was been a way for frontline groups and grassroots activists to be able to fight these infrastructure projects in their back yard that have polluted their air and water, and we can’t water that down.”
While Russian President Vladimir Putin uses natural gas supplies to keep the lights on in Europe, while becoming increasingly isolated for invading or brutalizing Ukraine, the Biden Administration and other top Democrats now prioritize the export of fracked gasoline from the United States.
Inflation and war in Ukraine have led to high fuel prices worldwide, which are causing political chaos in America and around the world. Biden and Democrats have also faced withering, and sometimes counterfactual, attacks over fuel prices from Republicans eager to take down Biden’s modest climate agenda and win control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.
The fossil fuel industry is seizing this opportunity. Industry is eager to finalize permits for liquified fracked gas export terminals and major pipelines such as Mountain Valley, and the Biden administration wants more gas exports to Europe, where allies are facing the prospect of fuel shortages this winter due to Putin’s maneuvers. Because gas burns cleaner and is cheaper than coal, policymakers tend to support it. However, the industry wants to ensure that fossil fuels continue to be used for decades while the rest of the world switches to cleaner energy.
The Inflation Reduction Act contains a significant win for the industry. The bill would require regulators, before renewable energy can expand on federal property. This is a practice Biden promised to end on the campaign trail. According to a recent statement by the Center for Biological Diversity,
The bill would require the Interior Department that it offers at least 2,000,000 acres on public lands and 60,000,000 acres offshore waters for oil & gas leasing each year for a ten-year period as a condition for installing any new solar and wind energy. If the department fails to offer these minimum amounts of leasing, no right-of-way could be granted for any utility scale renewable energy project on public land or waters.
“This is a climate suicide pact,” continued Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s self-defeating to handcuff renewable energy development to massive new oil and gas extraction.”
James Hiatt lives close to three export terminals in Lake Charles, Louisiana. At least seven more are proposed, despite opposition from environmental groups. Hiatt is an organizer with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. This environmental justice group said that there is no need to fast-track permits to build new terminals. Numerous terminals have been approved for key permits many years ago, but they have yet to go into operation.
“Permitting delays isn’t what has kept these proposed gas exports from being built: its been the lack of need in the marketplace; it’s the lack of the actual need in the marketplace for the gas that has held them up,” Hiatt said in an interview, noting that investors consider long-term profits over short-term gains. “Locking in this fossil fuel infrastructure is a 30-year deal, and all these gas export terminals are slated to operate for at least 30 years, so what ends up being built is going to have a big impact on the climate.”
Narayanan warned that investments made in renewable energy at home could cause the industry to export more fossil fuels overseas, which could lead to the United States making less progress on its climate emissions.
“The potential reduction in domestic consumption of fossil fuels from the Inflation Reduction Act paired with the Ukraine crisis and Europe’s energy demands could lead to disastrous levels of gas exports,” Narayanan said. “It’ll have huge health, safety and climate justice impacts for communities both here in the U.S. and for communities abroad burning the fossil fuels.”
