President Biden’s agreement with Republicans to raise the debt ceiling includes a controversial move to accelerate the construction of a hotly contested gas pipeline. The $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline intended to transport natural gas across almost 1,000 streams and wetlands from West Virginia’s Marcellus shale fields before terminating in Virginia is a top priority for the state’s Democratic senator, Joe Manchin III. However, environmentalists and Virginia Democrats have opposed it for a decade. The pipeline’s addition to the debt limit deal has drawn condemnation from environmental groups, with Climate Defiance planning a protest at Senator Chuck Schumer’s home. NextEra Energy, one of the companies behind the pipeline, is a major donor to both Manchin and Schumer.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2207954605-cacf07fd067a4c8d8b234f534f0e554c.jpg "Dow Jones Nowadays: S&P 500, Nasdaq Shut Upper After Risky Consultation as Traders Watch for Trump Announcement on New Price lists")
