Supreme Court gives green light to Manchin's gas pipeline

The Mountain Valley Pipeline project, which Senator Joe Manchin sponsored in Congress in recent months, got the go-ahead from the Supreme Court on Thursday to continue operations and be completed. The Supreme Court granted the emergency petition filed by the company responsible for the pipeline to overturn the decision of the Virginia courts.

The Supreme Court thus gave the green light, without individual signatures or public opinions, as is customary. The order issued from SCOTUS consists of a single page. It notifies the admission of the request for cancellation of the applications submitted.

Congressional approval for the pipeline, which runs from southern Virginia to northwest West Virginia, was one of Senator Manchin's priorities. It was also the senator's price for supporting the Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal. The energy project is the subject of harsh criticism from activists and environmental organizations, but Manchin describes it as crucial to the economies of Virginia and West Virginia.

Despite Congress yielding to Manchin, the approval went to the appellate courts, which halted the project at the request of the Wilderness Society, a wilderness preservation lobbyist organization. The suspension applied to construction of a section of the natural gas pipeline through part of the Jefferson National Forest, the last remaining section of the 300-mile project.

The Democratic senator welcomed the decision Supreme Court’s decision, which he considered to be the “correct one.” West Virginia Republican Representative Shelley Moore Capito, also applauded SCOTUS on the decision. Moore Capito considers it a victory for "American energy" and "American jobs."