Senator Joe Manchin recently made a surprise filing with the Supreme Court. Now he’s heard back.
And the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling is something Joe Manchin never saw coming.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s decision to halt the construction of a crucial natural gas pipeline in West Virginia and Virginia.
The 300-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline will connect northern West Virginia and southern Virginia, but environmental groups have been trying to stop its development. West Virginia’s Democrat senator Joe Manchin, Republican governor Jim Justice, and Democratic attorney general Patrick Morrisey all supported the pipeline’s development.
Senator Joe Manchin filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in an attempt to help get the pipeline over the finish line with a favorable ruling from the Justices on the High Court bench.
.@Sen_JoeManchin files amicus brief backing Mountain Valley Pipeline in Supreme Court https://t.co/D6JtDjjS02
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 19, 2023
This ruling from the Supreme Court comes only a couple weeks after that amicus brief filing.
The Supreme Court issued its verdict following a decision by the 4th Circuit Court that temporarily halted work on a three-mile stretch of Jefferson National Forest due to concerns that it could lead to water contamination and erosion.
In the past, Congress approved the pipeline as part of an agreement concerning the debt ceiling.
Producers claim that nearly 2,000 employment opportunities were created in Virginia and 3,700 jobs were created in West Virginia due to the pipeline’s construction. Its development is also expected to provide significant tax revenue for federal, state, and regional governments.
Justice, who is challenging Manchin for the Senate seat, also submitted an amicus brief in favor of the project.
“West Virginians have been waiting for this project to be completed for years. There are thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in critically important tax revenue to the State of West Virginia at stake. There are significant property rights and hundreds of millions of dollars in royalty revenues to West Virginia property owners at stake,” the governor’s brief said.
Manchin, a critic of the energy strategy of the Biden administration, likewise hailed the Supreme Court’s decision.
“The Supreme Court has spoken and this decision to let construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline move forward again is the correct one. I am relieved that the highest court in the land has upheld the law Congress passed and the President signed,” Manchin said in a press release.
The Supreme Court has spoken and this decision to let construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline move forward again is the correct one. I am relieved that the highest court in the land has upheld the law Congress passed and the President signed.
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) July 27, 2023
Morrisey, who previously argued the Supreme Court should review the issue, now applauds the Court’s decision.
“I am pleased the Supreme Court recognized the importance of this project not only for West Virginia, but for the nation,” Morrisey declared.
“The Mountain Valley Pipeline is vital to the survival of American energy independence and affects thousands of jobs in West Virginia — its completion is also critical to our national security, the urgent need is for it to be completed as soon as possible.”
The American Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute, and the Laborers’ International Union of North America all backed the pipeline project.
Stay tuned to the Federalist Wire.