Manchin’s Energy Permitting Reform Bill Is a Failure of Democracy | The New Republic

Source: Manchin’s Energy Permitting Reform Bill Is a Failure of Democracy | The New Republic

…Most people currently debating permitting reform on the left agree that it’s important to build things to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and that there should probably be some changes to the process to do that so that these can be built more quickly. Overall, the United States should boost transmission capacity by about 60 percent in the next decade to stay on track for net-zero emissions by 2050, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Where people disagree is on exactly what changes are needed, whether the text Manchin released aligns with that goal, and whether adding this particular text to the continuing resolution that needs to pass in one week is the right way to make those changes.

…Behind the current discussion of the bill’s merits lies a more troubling narrative about democracy. Two guys negotiated a deal behind closed doors. Both of them have accepted generous donations from the charismatic megaproject at its center, the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The details of that deal were worked out primarily by four guys, who released details about a sweeping overhaul of environmental regulations only a week before they intend to pass them into law. This sweeping overhaul of environmental regulations will probably fail, at least for now, because one of the country’s two major parties does not think the other should be allowed to govern. Climate advocates do need to conduct a healthy debate around permitting reform. This is a deeply depressing stage on which to hold it.