Markey to oppose debt ceiling deal over fossil fuel permitting provisions

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) confirmed Wednesday evening that he will oppose the deal between President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to raise the debt ceiling, specifically citing its provisions overhauling the energy permitting process.

“I will not support a deal to fast-track dirty fossil fuel projects at the expense of environmental justice. I will not give polluters a Get Out of Jail Free card. I will vote NO on the default deal,” the Massachusetts Democrat tweeted Wednesday.

Progressives in Congress have raised concerns that provisions of the measure, which cleared a key House procedural hurdle Wednesday, would undermine the National Environmental Protection Act with provisions aimed at simplifying the permitting process. The measure would also approve the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a pet project of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), which has similarly drawn the ire of progressives but also moderates like Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

Markey, one of the Senate’s most vocal proponents of climate action, previously joined several other Senate Democrats in opposing the inclusion of fossil fuel permitting reform in the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act at the end of 2022.

“Our conference broadly shares the goals both of accelerating the rapid deployment of clean energy, and of advancing climate justice by remedying past damage done to frontline and low- income communities while making sure we don’t inflict such harm in the future,” they wrote. “Congress needs to ensure that we build on the investments of the Inflation Reduction Act to rapidly and equitably deploy clean energy technology and ensure that it is not done at the expense of already overburdened communities.”

Markey’s confirmation that he will not back the measure comes shortly after another Senate progressive, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said earlier Wednesday that he will not support the measure if it reaches the chamber, also citing the pipeline provisions and calling on the president to invoke the 14th Amendment to avert a default.