(LibertySociety.com) – Speaker McCarthy successfully negotiated a deal to bolster American energy during the debt ceiling talks between his and President Biden’s team. The Mountain Valley Pipeline, which has been held up by red tape for several years despite being almost complete, is expected to resume with the approval of the deal. Democrat West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, whose state is home to the over 300-mile pipeline, celebrated the inclusion of the pipeline approval, which he had attempted and failed to inject into two bills passed in 2022.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the Republican Senator for West Virginia, released a statement boasting about her work with Speaker McCarthy on the deal and the impact it will have on citizens of the state. The construction of the pipeline will provide over 2,500 new jobs, $40 million, and $10 million in tax revenue for West Virginia and Virginia, respectively. In addition, royalty payments will be provided to landowners in West Virginia, totaling over $250 million in payments. The pipeline will provide natural gas “to consumers in the Mid- and South Atlantic,” according to Fox News.
This agreement comes just two months after the Department of Interior approved the Willow Project, a massive oil drilling project in the state of Alaska, which came with severe backlash from the progressive wing of the Democrat Party. Both projects have been hindered by lawsuits from environmental groups and regulatory holdups, but have ultimately been cleared by the Biden administration, which claims to want to shift America away from fossil fuels and toward green energy projects.
Last week, an agreement was made on the debt ceiling between Speaker McCarthy and President Biden’s negotiating teams, and the Senate approved the deal on June 2. Around 30 Republicans and a few Democrats announced their opposition to the agreement, the majority of lawmakers approved it. Biden touted the passage of the deal the following day and later signed it into law.
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