We're now three and a half weeks away from September 30, at which point Congress must pass a continuing resolution (CR) in order to avoid a government shutdown. This time around, it seems that eyes will be on whether or not the deal promised to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) over infrastructure permit projects, including pipelines, will be included. Assurances that they would be included is what got Manchin to agree to support the misnamed "Inflation Reduction Act," which will do no such thing and was passed and signed into law last month.
In recent weeks, there's been doubts that it would be included in the CR, due in large part to pushback from fellow Democrats, in both the House and the Senate. On Tuesday afternoon though, CNN's Manu Raju tweeted out that Sen. Manchin has indeed "been assured that the deal... will be included in the CR to fund [the] government," and that such assurance came from Democratic leaders.
Joe Manchin tells us he has been assured that the deal he struck to overhaul the environmental review process for energy infrastructure projects will be included in the CR to fund government. He said he was given that assurance by D leaders. Some liberals have balked at that deal
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 6, 2022
Punchbowl News' John Bresnahan also tweeted out that Manchin indicated Manchin could "release his bill as soon as this week."
.@Sen_JoeManchin is very clear that he expects his permitting reform bill the CR. He will release his bill as soon as this week
— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) September 6, 2022
It's worth emphasizing that Raju also included in his tweet how "Some liberals have balked at that deal" though. That has included Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, as well as Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee and Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA).
A piece from RollCall about what might be in the funding bill, which was published earlier on Tuesday, also mentioned opposition from activist groups. "Environmental activists are mobilizing against the plan. Two groups opposed to the pipeline — the Stop MVP and People vs. Fossil Fuels coalitions — have called for a protest against 'Manchin’s dirty deal' outside the Capitol Sept. 8," the report read.
Regardless as to if Manchin's plan makes it into the CR, there could still be bad news for oil and gas when it comes to executive orders from President Joe Biden, as one angry user tweeted out.
You own this @Sen_JoeManchin. You chose to be a useful idiot for the climate change cult. You had the opportunity to kill this disaster. Your state, WV and the rest of the country are fucked. #Resign https://t.co/CPByzen2mS
— Joe (@JoeC1776) September 6, 2022
The Houston Chronicle article in question from Tuesday references how "the Biden administration is preparing a series of executive actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that have the potential to drive a nationwide shift away from oil and natural gas," which are expected to ben announced over the next 12 months. They'll involve "federal policies speeding up emissions reductions from both vehicles and power plants, the two largest drivers for oil and natural gas demand, as they seek to get the United States on track to meet their climate targets."
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