As we begin to celebrate the extended Fourth of July weekend, it seems appropriate to also be celebrating decisions that will help serve to provide more energy independence and national security to this great nation.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s final ruling that will allow for the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline through parts of West Virginia and Virginia is welcomed — and long overdue — news.

The FERC authorization came through on Wednesday and combined with new regulations put in place by Congress should allow for the long awaited pipeline, which is more than 90% complete, to overcome the final obstacles.

Work on the project is expected to resume “shortly,” said Natalie Cox, director of communications and corporate affairs for project developers Equitrans Midstream Corp., in an email to WV News.

“We expect the first of several forward-construction crews to begin work on the right of way shortly, and Mountain Valley continues to target project completion by year-end 2023,” she said.

MVP’s route in West Virginia runs through Braxton, Doddridge, Fayette, Greenbrier, Harrison, Lewis, Monroe, Nicholas, Summers, Webster and Wetzel counties.

All of those counties stand to benefit, as do other counties that are engaged in natural gas operation. The pipeline also benefits the natural gas industry overall, which has a rich history of being a strong job producer in the Mountain State.

While supporters of the pipeline have been working for some time to push it past the final stalemate, much credit goes to West Virginia’s U.S. Senators, Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, as well as Rep. Carol Miller, who worked to include provisions to push the MVP project to completion in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the package passed by Congress last month to address the debt ceiling.

Manchin, West Virginia’s senior senator and a pivotal vote for Democrats in the Senate, has advocated for the pipeline as necessary for energy independence and national security.

He said the FERC approval is the “final step needed to get MVP finished and up-and-running.”

“MVP is vital to America’s energy and national security and will benefit not only West Virginia, but the entire nation,” Manchin said in a Tweet.

Also taking to social media, Capito called it “Great news for WV and American energy”

Charlie Burd, executive director of the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, credited Manchin, Capito and Miller for their roles.

“It’s great news, I think, for West Virginia — for West Virginia producers, West Virginia residents and for end-users at the end of the pipeline, once the pipeline is completed, that will be getting some of the cleanest natural gas produced any place in the world,” he said.

While we should celebrate this effort to advance energy production in West Virginia and the nation, we must also remain mindful that more work is needed to streamline energy project regulations to allow for the development of all energy resources — natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen and any others they may be developed in the future.

Protecting the environment must remain a critical part of the effort, but we must also balance economic development and national security with those efforts.

What is unfolding with the MVP project should serve as ground work for the efforts to make energy development easier, more affordable and sustainable.