- Jun 6, 2007
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If members of Congress put "Country over Party" they would pass the "Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022" as part of the Continuing Resolution that is needed to pass if the government is to be funded past September 30th because this would guarantee the speed-up of regulatory approval of energy projects. Any competent analyst on the economy knows that the country has to have stable and good "energy" prices to have a healthy and growing economy and especially if it is to avoid a problem with inflation so the country needs energy projects readily approved. This law would give the Federal Government a two year statute of limitations to produce an environmental impact statement and if there is no impediment level of negative impact the government would have one hundred and eighty days to issue the needed authorizations; further it would create a one hundred and fifty day limit on legal claims all fair and good moves that would make the system better!
A lot has been made by Republicans of the fact that Senator Joe Manchin provided the crucial vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act and for his vote on this bill he was promised by the Democrat leadership that his permit bill would be included in the CR. Anyone would be hard pressed to find a person in America that hates this law more than I do I follow the economy pretty closely and this IRA law is a disaster for America if the current level of bad inflation across America were represented by small fires across America the IRA would represent a giant reservoir of kerosene enough to entirely flood America and with this laws passage it fully opened the gates of this reservoir and inflation will be significantly increased for a long time by its effects. Whether it be the IRA exponentially increasing the price of federal leases, or the tax on leakage of natural gas or the tens of billions of dollars that will be used to bloat the federal bureaucracy related to energy and increase spending on energy which will significantly drive up inflation. Nevertheless, I would vote for passage of this permitting bill it moves the country forward on energy regulation. Republicans should give Senator Manchin a pass on his culpability in passing IRA. The IRA bill started out as the Build Back Better bill, a three trillion dollar bill, Senator Manchin whittled it down to $700 billion, plus Senator Manchin was under crushing pressure to help the Democrats pass something; honestly I think if Manchin didn't reverse course and help the Democrats pass something like the IRA, one or more Democrat supporters would have tried to assassinate Joe Manchin that is how hated he was prior to the IRA being on track for passage. I don't think Manchin took the actions he did for self preservation I think he did what he did because he is a good person and such a person tries to show loyalty to his party; the fatal problem for Senator Manchin was the bill was just too big no single person could reliably negotiate a good bill the subject matters involved were just too complex. Republicans should remember the 2017 tax reform bill where they abandoned their long held commitment to deficit neutral tax reform at the coercion of Donald Trump and remember this law irreparably blew-up any bipartisan commitment to eliminate the budget deficit and put the national debt at a good level thereby putting America on an unescapable trajectory for a Depression caused by a catastrophic debt crisis.
The Republicans are foolish not to vote for this bill their principle agenda is energy independence for America this bill would materially improve America's chances of meeting this goal. Plus if Republicans gain power for the foreseeable future they almost certainly won't have the sixty votes in the Senate needed to pass their version of this permitting reform bill; the Republican Party does not support a federal law giving women at least twelve weeks to have an abortion - so they permanently lose a lot of women's rights Americans, it doesn't support giving a legal path to citizenship for illegal immigrants that have been in this country for at least five years so the Republican does not have a workable plan to solve the illegal immigration problem for America because to do that the Federal Government needs to reduce the number of illegal immigrants the law requires to be deported to a practical number the system can handle, it cannot handle twelve million illegals, and the Republican Party does not support reasonable price restrictions on the Pharmaceutical industry and the price of drugs is slowing economically killing America. If Republicans want permitting reform this Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022 ship is the last ship leaving the port those that stay will be permanently living in a regulatory hell!
The Republicans banking on their Simplify Timelines and Assure Regulatory Transparency (START) Act are planting seeds in rocky soil. First this bill is something one would expect from the Senate of a Banana Republic; seriously it is not a legitimate bill it is a policy outline of a bill. Come on now you Republican Senators you are supposed to be stewards of America's laws when you draft a bill the provisions should indicate clearly how the law is being changed you shouldn't be referencing documents to indicate the change where at minimum ambiguity on what the change is could result. The regulatory framework in the bill is confusing; the bill says that the lead agency for a project once that agency has issued approval for the project all authorizations have to be issued within ninety days. Does this mean all government agencies have to issue the needed authorizations in ninety days? And how does one determine which agency involved in the project is the lead agency? I can see even responsible Republicans hesitating to vote for this type of scheme! This bill would give the state(s) whose land contains the fracking well or where the fracking liquid is being released under pressure sole power to regulate that fracking, do the authors of this bill understand the concept of a river fracking can pollute rivers which traverse many states. This bill gives the state where federal land is located the power to lease and regulate fossil fuel production on federal lands, the authors of this bill should visit areas of Alaska where energy production companies trashed the land where they drilled. The drivers behind this bill don't know the quality of their caucus when voting day comes on this bill many Republicans won't vote for this bill which abandons the Federal governments commitment to protecting the environment.
I don't know how any of the forty-seven Republican Senators that co-sponsored this START bill can have a problem with the Mountain Valley pipeline provisions in the Energy Independence and Security Act; it is ninety-five percent the same bill, the START bill mandates the Federal Agencies essentially immediately issue the needed authorizations for the project and it prohibits federal judicial review of these agencies actions just like the bill that will be in the CR. Really generally speaking the criticism of the Mountain Valley Pipeline provisions is the making of a mountain out of a mole hill. The project involves a 303 mile natural gas pipeline across West Virginia slightly into Virginia; it is ninety four percent built there is roughly twenty miles left to build mostly across waterways. The pipeline will bring natural gas from the gas rich areas of the Marcellus and Utica shale regions to Virginia and the lower southern states which I believe aren't rich with natural gas in their ground so it would be a big economic plus for these southern states! Mountain Valley began the regulatory process for this pipeline in October 2015 (seven years and counting to get the regulatory approvals!), Mountain Valley began building the pipeline in 2018 and its estimated cost at that time to build was $3.7 billion in May of 2002 Mountain Valley updated its cost estimates to $6.6 billion that means its cost has turned out to be $22 million dollars a mile for the pipeline, five city blocks of pipeline cost $22 million that fact should be dispositive on the issue that America's regulatory system here is a failed crappy system that desperately needs to be improved the CR bill is a good start!
I have one reservation with this Energy Independence and Security Act bill; I agree with the Virginia Senators that being Senator Tim Kaine and Senator Mark Warner whose comments recognize that the judicial provisions in the Mountain Valley pipeline provisions in this bill are an affront to America's Democratic values. What this bill does is it mandates that lawsuits challenging these pipeline provisions in the bill have to be filed in the circuit court for the District of Columbia they cannot be filed in say the circuit court for the state of Virginia. The alarm about this is that any competent analysis of the U.S. court system recognizes that on many issues the circuits disagree so if these provisions are allowed to pass this sets a very dangerous precedent what it means is that it is okay for a powerful member of Congress to manipulate jurisdiction in our legal system that is where Americans and American companies have to file legal claims for their lawsuit, this is patent corruption and should be stopped; Senator Manchin should strike these provisions before the bill is added to the CR. Further the provisions in this bill prohibiting judicial review of federal agencies actions for this pipeline should be scrapped this wreaks of corruption, what were talking about here is people's civil rights to protect their and their neighbors' health and the environment from a specific project being taken away from them because one or more members of Congress have the power to insert such provisions in a bill which will become law again this unadulterated corruption! Lastly, I think Senator Joe Manchin might be most prudent and virtuous in dropping the Mountain Valley provisions in the bill, if it is causing members of Congress not to vote for the bill and the bill to fail it is better to have the improvement in the permitting regulations pass one should also consider that the pipeline will likely be completed at the latest in two or three years because natural gas prices are only going to be going up with the supply shortage throughout the world and consumers in the southern Atlantica states are going to be lobbying their representatives hard to have this pipeline completed so as to reduce the increases in their natural gas and electric bills!
A lot has been made by Republicans of the fact that Senator Joe Manchin provided the crucial vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act and for his vote on this bill he was promised by the Democrat leadership that his permit bill would be included in the CR. Anyone would be hard pressed to find a person in America that hates this law more than I do I follow the economy pretty closely and this IRA law is a disaster for America if the current level of bad inflation across America were represented by small fires across America the IRA would represent a giant reservoir of kerosene enough to entirely flood America and with this laws passage it fully opened the gates of this reservoir and inflation will be significantly increased for a long time by its effects. Whether it be the IRA exponentially increasing the price of federal leases, or the tax on leakage of natural gas or the tens of billions of dollars that will be used to bloat the federal bureaucracy related to energy and increase spending on energy which will significantly drive up inflation. Nevertheless, I would vote for passage of this permitting bill it moves the country forward on energy regulation. Republicans should give Senator Manchin a pass on his culpability in passing IRA. The IRA bill started out as the Build Back Better bill, a three trillion dollar bill, Senator Manchin whittled it down to $700 billion, plus Senator Manchin was under crushing pressure to help the Democrats pass something; honestly I think if Manchin didn't reverse course and help the Democrats pass something like the IRA, one or more Democrat supporters would have tried to assassinate Joe Manchin that is how hated he was prior to the IRA being on track for passage. I don't think Manchin took the actions he did for self preservation I think he did what he did because he is a good person and such a person tries to show loyalty to his party; the fatal problem for Senator Manchin was the bill was just too big no single person could reliably negotiate a good bill the subject matters involved were just too complex. Republicans should remember the 2017 tax reform bill where they abandoned their long held commitment to deficit neutral tax reform at the coercion of Donald Trump and remember this law irreparably blew-up any bipartisan commitment to eliminate the budget deficit and put the national debt at a good level thereby putting America on an unescapable trajectory for a Depression caused by a catastrophic debt crisis.
The Republicans are foolish not to vote for this bill their principle agenda is energy independence for America this bill would materially improve America's chances of meeting this goal. Plus if Republicans gain power for the foreseeable future they almost certainly won't have the sixty votes in the Senate needed to pass their version of this permitting reform bill; the Republican Party does not support a federal law giving women at least twelve weeks to have an abortion - so they permanently lose a lot of women's rights Americans, it doesn't support giving a legal path to citizenship for illegal immigrants that have been in this country for at least five years so the Republican does not have a workable plan to solve the illegal immigration problem for America because to do that the Federal Government needs to reduce the number of illegal immigrants the law requires to be deported to a practical number the system can handle, it cannot handle twelve million illegals, and the Republican Party does not support reasonable price restrictions on the Pharmaceutical industry and the price of drugs is slowing economically killing America. If Republicans want permitting reform this Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022 ship is the last ship leaving the port those that stay will be permanently living in a regulatory hell!
The Republicans banking on their Simplify Timelines and Assure Regulatory Transparency (START) Act are planting seeds in rocky soil. First this bill is something one would expect from the Senate of a Banana Republic; seriously it is not a legitimate bill it is a policy outline of a bill. Come on now you Republican Senators you are supposed to be stewards of America's laws when you draft a bill the provisions should indicate clearly how the law is being changed you shouldn't be referencing documents to indicate the change where at minimum ambiguity on what the change is could result. The regulatory framework in the bill is confusing; the bill says that the lead agency for a project once that agency has issued approval for the project all authorizations have to be issued within ninety days. Does this mean all government agencies have to issue the needed authorizations in ninety days? And how does one determine which agency involved in the project is the lead agency? I can see even responsible Republicans hesitating to vote for this type of scheme! This bill would give the state(s) whose land contains the fracking well or where the fracking liquid is being released under pressure sole power to regulate that fracking, do the authors of this bill understand the concept of a river fracking can pollute rivers which traverse many states. This bill gives the state where federal land is located the power to lease and regulate fossil fuel production on federal lands, the authors of this bill should visit areas of Alaska where energy production companies trashed the land where they drilled. The drivers behind this bill don't know the quality of their caucus when voting day comes on this bill many Republicans won't vote for this bill which abandons the Federal governments commitment to protecting the environment.
I don't know how any of the forty-seven Republican Senators that co-sponsored this START bill can have a problem with the Mountain Valley pipeline provisions in the Energy Independence and Security Act; it is ninety-five percent the same bill, the START bill mandates the Federal Agencies essentially immediately issue the needed authorizations for the project and it prohibits federal judicial review of these agencies actions just like the bill that will be in the CR. Really generally speaking the criticism of the Mountain Valley Pipeline provisions is the making of a mountain out of a mole hill. The project involves a 303 mile natural gas pipeline across West Virginia slightly into Virginia; it is ninety four percent built there is roughly twenty miles left to build mostly across waterways. The pipeline will bring natural gas from the gas rich areas of the Marcellus and Utica shale regions to Virginia and the lower southern states which I believe aren't rich with natural gas in their ground so it would be a big economic plus for these southern states! Mountain Valley began the regulatory process for this pipeline in October 2015 (seven years and counting to get the regulatory approvals!), Mountain Valley began building the pipeline in 2018 and its estimated cost at that time to build was $3.7 billion in May of 2002 Mountain Valley updated its cost estimates to $6.6 billion that means its cost has turned out to be $22 million dollars a mile for the pipeline, five city blocks of pipeline cost $22 million that fact should be dispositive on the issue that America's regulatory system here is a failed crappy system that desperately needs to be improved the CR bill is a good start!
I have one reservation with this Energy Independence and Security Act bill; I agree with the Virginia Senators that being Senator Tim Kaine and Senator Mark Warner whose comments recognize that the judicial provisions in the Mountain Valley pipeline provisions in this bill are an affront to America's Democratic values. What this bill does is it mandates that lawsuits challenging these pipeline provisions in the bill have to be filed in the circuit court for the District of Columbia they cannot be filed in say the circuit court for the state of Virginia. The alarm about this is that any competent analysis of the U.S. court system recognizes that on many issues the circuits disagree so if these provisions are allowed to pass this sets a very dangerous precedent what it means is that it is okay for a powerful member of Congress to manipulate jurisdiction in our legal system that is where Americans and American companies have to file legal claims for their lawsuit, this is patent corruption and should be stopped; Senator Manchin should strike these provisions before the bill is added to the CR. Further the provisions in this bill prohibiting judicial review of federal agencies actions for this pipeline should be scrapped this wreaks of corruption, what were talking about here is people's civil rights to protect their and their neighbors' health and the environment from a specific project being taken away from them because one or more members of Congress have the power to insert such provisions in a bill which will become law again this unadulterated corruption! Lastly, I think Senator Joe Manchin might be most prudent and virtuous in dropping the Mountain Valley provisions in the bill, if it is causing members of Congress not to vote for the bill and the bill to fail it is better to have the improvement in the permitting regulations pass one should also consider that the pipeline will likely be completed at the latest in two or three years because natural gas prices are only going to be going up with the supply shortage throughout the world and consumers in the southern Atlantica states are going to be lobbying their representatives hard to have this pipeline completed so as to reduce the increases in their natural gas and electric bills!
