Pipeline’s backers have financial, campaign ties – By Benjamin J. Hulac (Roll Call) / Sept 19, 2022
Approval of the project is included in a proposal to overhaul permitting for energy projects
Politicians backing an unfinished West Virginia gas pipeline at the center of debate in Congress have received thousands of dollars in contributions from the companies behind the project, hold stock in those companies or both.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., introduced legislation on Sept. 12 to change federal permitting law by, among other steps, limiting how long environmental reviews can take. It would also approve the roughly 300-mile-long Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would run from West Virginia to Virginia.
It wasn’t the first time Capito had nudged along the project, which would bisect her home state from north to south, citing it as the sort of project America’s permitting laws make difficult to build.
“Endless regulatory delay and environmental lawsuits, including on permits already issued, delay more than pipelines and kill more than jobs,” Capito said during a March appearance on the Senate floor.
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