Democrats ditch Manchin's 'dirty deal' after opposition from climate activists

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Democrats ditch Manchin’s ‘dirty deal’ after opposition from climate activists

Senator had proposed to attach energy bill to appropriations legislation but plan fails amid criticism of party leadership

Nina Lakhani in New York
@ninalakhani
Wed 7 Dec 2022 15.45 GMT
First published on Wed 7 Dec 2022 11.00 GMT

A last-ditch effort to force through legislation that would weaken environmental protections and fast-track energy projects has failed.

Joe Manchin, the fossil fuel-friendly senator from West Virginia, had attempted to latch the controversial deregulation and permitting reforms to a must-pass defense bill – after failing to get his so-called “dirty deal” passed earlier this year.

The proposal to attach his bill to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual appropriations bill that will be voted on later this week, was reportedly supported by Joe Biden and House leader Nancy Pelosi.

But progressive lawmakers and hundreds of climate, public health and youth groups opposed the move to pass such consequential reforms without proper scrutiny. Manchin’s legislation would weaken environmental safeguards and expedite permits to construct pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure while restricting public input and legal challenges.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/07/joe-manchin-legislation-energy-fast-track-democrats-defense-act

[Ocelot II]

1. And pretty soon, with an actual majority in the Senate,

the rest of the Dems can tell Manchin to fuck right off.

[SheltieLover]

3. Absofuckingloutely!

Ty, GA!!!!!

[Blue Owl]

4. YAS!

[Magoo48]

2. Damn good news. Sad though because it took an "environmentalists'" ruckus.

[orthoclad]

5. Good

The very structure of the Senate is dysfunctional. Representatives of small populations like WV and WY hold the rest of the country hostage. In these places, money buys a lot of power for a small outlay.

At times in the past, WV was pretty radical left. It was the only state created to reject the Confederacy (mountains weren't conducive to plantations), and there was a lot of labor action, like the Battle of Blair Mountain. Now big money mostly owns it, and convinces the hardworking poor that they are their buddies.

Some states should have one Senator; other states 3, per population.

Too much of the Founding Fathers' work was devoted to protecting slaveholders' power. State's Rights were plantation rights. The 2WhiteA was for slave patrols.

[Brenda]

6. Yes, that is one of the biggest problems

with getting anything remotely progressive (especially regarding the climate) done in this country. The 50/50 or 49/51 divide is an absolute fallacy. And the media smirks "the Democrats like to talk about the red/blue divide being about empty real estate vs cities."

Well....it's TRUE! Do tumbleweeds or coal pits vote?