Supreme Court Reinstates Major Gas Pipeline

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a lower court ruling that blocked the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from proceeding, dealing a major blow to environmental activist groups.

In an unsigned order with no public dissents, the court granted the request to vacate a stay on a 303-mile segment of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, according to Fox News.

Earlier this month, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with environmental groups Wilderness Society and Appalachian Voices, which had sued to stop the pipeline construction. 

Days after the lower court ruling, on July 14, the pipeline's developer asked the Supreme Court to vacate the stay. The high court gave plaintiffs until Tuesday to file a response.

“Whatever benefit respondents or the court of appeals might believe would be gained by having the agencies again reconsider the challenged actions, Congress has determined that further reconsideration is unwarranted and has prioritized MVP's ‘timely' completion over interests addressed by any other federal statutes,” the Department of Justice wrote in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court last week. 

“That judgment is for Congress alone,” the brief continued.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) who played a role in securing the pipeline in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, filed his own amicus brief in the case on July 18.

“The Supreme Court has spoken and this decision to let construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline move forward again is the correct one. I am relieved that the highest court in the land has upheld the law Congress passed and the President signed,” Manchin said in a statement Thursday.

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