Contact: Chelsea Barnes, (614) 205-6424, chelsea@appvoices.org
This evening, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy released the text of a deal to lift the debt ceiling while attempting to greenlight the Mountain Valley Pipeline and weaken environmental protections for communities. The bill, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, includes provisions that require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits for the Mountain Valley Pipeline within 21 days and attempt to prohibit any judicial review of permits issued for the project by any government agency.
“Singling out the Mountain Valley Pipeline for approval in a vote about our nation’s credit limit is an egregious act,” said Peter Anderson, Virginia Policy Director with Appalachian Voices. “By attempting to suspend the rules for a pipeline company that has repeatedly polluted communities’ water and flouted the conditions in its permits, the president and Congress would deny basic legal protections, procedural fairness and environmental justice to communities along the pipeline’s path.”
“Changes to environmental laws and favors to fossil fuel companies have no place in a bill to raise the debt ceiling,” said Chelsea Barnes, Director of Government Affairs and Strategy. “Congress should reject this legislation and pass a clean debt ceiling bill.”
