The following text originally appeared in a newsletter from Juan Jhong-Chung, Executive Director of the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition after it was reported that Senator Manchin had to pull his own bill from the senate floor after not receiving enough votes to pass it through with a Continuing Resolution bill. This was made possible by our collective efforts, and requires our continued vigilance to ensure that legislation that is harmful to the environment and Michigan residents is never passed on our watch.
EJ fam,
We won!!!! Environmental justice, frontline communities, and our allies from all around the country came together for the past few weeks to defeat Senators Manchin and Senator Schumer's dirty deal. This evening, when the Senate was expected to vote on a Continuing Resolution bill, there were not enough votes to move this dirty bill alongside it, and Sen. Manchin had no choice but to pull his own bill from the floor.
This so-called permitting reform bill would have forced approval of the Mountain Valley pipeline, fast-tracked other dangerous fossil fuel projects in Michigan and around the country, and gutted the environmental laws that protect our communities from polluters.
Thank you to everyone who called, texted, tweeted and contacted their members of Congress. Big thank you to the Michigan delegation that traveled to the Capitol led by MEJC and MAJIC: Jamesa Johnson-Greer, Rei Fielder, Jacob Sirhan, Theresa Landrum, Nayyirah Shariff, Kareem Scales, and Sergio Cira-Reyes. Thank you to all the Michigan organizations and coalitions who spoke out against this nefarious bill.
NEXT STEPS: The fight is not quite over yet. Manchin's bill could be attached to other must-pass legislation like the National Defense Authorization Act or the December Continuing Resolution Bill. Our communities must stay vigilant to stop the dirty deal once and for all.
Tomorrow, call, text or tweet at our Michigan Senators and urge them to publicly oppose any future fossil fuel permitting deal.
“Even though Manchin’s permitting bill will not be in the CR, I am concerned that it will be attached to another bill in the future. Please publicly oppose any policies that would expand or fast-track pipelines and other fossil fuel projects.”
Sen. Debbie Stabenow:
(202) 224-4822, @SenStabenow
In solidarity,
Juan Jhong-Chung (he/they)
Climate Justice Director
