Congress has released its debt ceiling agreement, which includes a slew of problematic provisions. In addition to attacking bedrock environmental laws like the National Environmental Policy Act, the legislation also forces the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a gas project previously denied permits for a variety of water-quality and environmental justice concerns. Ariel Moger, Government and Political Affairs Director at Friends of the Earth, released the following statement: "President Biden has betrayed the American people. After initially proclaiming he wouldn't negotiate on the debt ceiling, he gifted MAGA extremists legislation filled with polluter giveaways and devastating spending limitations. Even Senator Manchin, who has done as much as Republicans to sabotage the Democratic agenda, has been rewarded with the forced approval of his pet project, the Mountain Valley Pipeline. This agreement is far from a compromise. It’s a surrender to Big Oil and Republican hostage-takers in Congress. Democrats should vote NO on this disgraceful deal and force a vote on a clean debt limit increase."

After weeks of Republicans threatening to default on America’s debts for extreme cuts in spending and fossil fuel industry handouts, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and President Biden agreed to a deal to raise the country’s debt ceiling. The deal will expedite the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline by authorizing every permit, certificate, and analysis required by Federal environmental laws, mandating that the Army Corps issue a permit within 21 days of enactment, and precluding judicial review. The agreement needlessly undermines parts of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a bedrock environmental law. The deal also caps funding for agencies that protect our air, water, and the climate and will make it harder for those in need to get food assistance by expanding work requirements. In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous released the following statement: “The Sierra Club calls on Congress to reject this deal and swiftly pass a clean bill. Any deal that attempts to expedite the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline, that rolls back bedrock environmental protections, and makes life harder for workers and families already struggling is a bad deal for the country. Congressional Republicans held America hostage while refusing to do the basic and fundamental work of paying America’s bills. We deserve better. President Biden committed—repeatedly—to doing better. Passing a clean debt ceiling is a simple and well-established approach Congress has employed—and should have done again months ago.”

The details of a debt ceiling/spending deal between President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy include a number of provisions that would fast-track new fossil fuel development, including swift actions to bolster approval of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline, weakening of the National Environmental Policy Act, and freezing of the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency. In response, Food & Water Watch Managing Director of Policy and Litigation Mitch Jones issued the following statement:“In entering into this ill-conceived negotiation with extremist House Republicans, President Biden set himself up for this disastrous result—legislation that would fast-track climate-killing fossil fuels and cut the legs out of cornerstone environmental protections which have existed for decades. If this bad deal goes through, President Biden’s legacy on the environment and clean energy will be irreversibly scarred. “Congress must reject these egregious handouts to the fossil fuel industry and start fresh to quickly pass a clean debt limit increase that excludes the political wish list of hostage-taking Republican extremists.”