Manchin's first bill in the Senate dealt with what he calls the EPA's overreach. After the EPA vetoed a previously-approved permit for the Spruce Mine in Logan County, West Virginia, Senator Manchin offered the "EPA Fair Play Act."
[74] The bill would "clarify and confirm the authority of the Environment Protection Agency to deny or restrict the use of defined areas as disposal sites for the discharge of dredged or filled material."
[75] Manchin said the bill would prevent the agency from "changing its rules on businesses after permits have already been granted."
[76]
On October 6, 2010,
Manchin directed a lawsuit aimed at overturning new federal rules concerning mountaintop removal mining. Filed by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the lawsuit "accuses U.S. EPA of overstepping its authority and asks the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia to throw out the federal agency's new guidelines for issuing
Clean Water Act permits for coal mines." In order to qualify for the permits, mining companies need to prove their projects would not cause the concentration of pollutants in the local water to rise 5 times past the normal level.
The New York Times reported that EPA Administrator
Lisa Jackson said the new legislation would protect 95 percent of aquatic life by banning operators from dumping mine waste into
streams.
[77]
Manchin has received criticism from environmentalists due to his close family ties to the coal industry. He served as president of Energysystems in the late 1990s before becoming active in politics. On his financial disclosures in 2009 and 2010, his reported earnings from the company were $1,363,916 and $417,255 respectively.
[78] Critics have stated his opposition to health regulations that would raise expenses for the industry are due to his stake in the industry; Jim Sconyers, chairman of West Virginia's
Sierra Club chapter stated that "
he's been nothing but a mouthpiece for the coal industry his whole public life."
[78]However, opinions on the subject are mixed;
The Charleston Gazette noted "the prospect that Manchin's $1.7 million-plus in recent Enersystems earnings might tilt him even more strongly pro-coal might seem remote, given the deep economic and cultural connections that the industry maintains in West Virginia."
[79]
On November 14, 2011, Manchin chaired his first field hearing of that committee in Charleston, West Virginia, to
focus on Marcellus Shale natural gas development and production. Manchin said, "We are literally sitting on top of tremendous potential with the Marcellus shale. We need to work together to chart a path forward in a safe and responsible way that lets us produce energy right here in America."
[80]
Manchin supports building the Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada. Manchin has said, "It makes so much common sense that you want to buy [oil] off your friends and not your enemies." The pipeline would span over 2,000 miles across the United States.
[81]
On November 9, 2011, Manchin introduced the "Fair Compliance Act" with Senator
Dan Coats (R-IN).
Their bill would "lengthen timelines and establish benchmarks for utilities to comply with two major Environmental Protection Agency air pollution rules. The legislation would extend the compliance deadline for the
Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, or CSAPR, by three years and the deadline for the Utility MACT rule by two years—setting both to January 1, 2017."
[82]
Manchin introduced the "American Alternative Fuels Act" on May 10, 2011, with Senator
John Barrasso (R-WY). The bill would remove restrictions on the development of alternative fuels, repeal part of the 2007 energy bill restricting the federal government from buying alternative fuels and encourage the development of algae-based fuels and synthetic natural gas. Regarding the bill, Manchin said, "Our unacceptably high gas prices are hurting not only West Virginians, but all Americans, and they underscore a critical need: the federal government needs to be a partner, not an obstacle, for businesses that can transform our domestic energy resources into gas."
[83]
In 2011,
Manchin was the only Democratic senator to support the proposed Energy Tax Prevention Act, which sought to prohibit the
United States Environmental Protection Agency from regulating
greenhouse gas.
[84] He was also one of four Democratic senators to vote against the Stream Protection Rule.[85] In 2012
Manchin supported a GOP effort to "scuttle Environmental Protection Agency regulations that mandate cuts in mercury pollution and other toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants", while West Virginia's other senator,
Jay Rockefeller, did not.
[86]
Manchin criticized Obama's environmental regulations as a "war on coal" and demanded what he described as a proper balance between the needs of the environment and the coal business.
[87] The
Los Angeles Times has noted that while professing environmental concerns, h
e has consistently stood up for coal, saying "no one is going to stop using fossil [fuels] for a long time." He "does not deny the existence of man-made climate change," wrote the
Los Angeles Times, but "is reluctant to curtail it."
[88] In February 2017,
he was one of only two Democratic senators to vote to confirm Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.[89] In June 2017,
Manchin supported President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, saying he supported "a cleaner energy future" but that the Paris deal failed to strike "a balance between our environment and the economy."
[90]
for the coal industry. It is his DEFINING position in politics. I've already given you the receipts.
