We join state and industry officials and thousands of natural gas workers who are hailing the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Developers are expected to begin moving natural gas from the Marcellus Shale Appalachian Basin now that federal regulatory agencies have signed off on the pipeline’s completion and deemed it ready for use.
That approval came late Tuesday and is considered the final step in the decade-long project, which overcame numerous court challenges and opposition over environmental concerns.
One of the most highly regulated energy projects, the Mountain Valley Pipeline will move natural gas from the rich fields in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania to more markets along the East Coast.
The completion of the pipeline and federal approval are being hailed by industry and state officials.
Gov. Jim Justice, during his Wednesday press briefing, said the authorization was welcome news.
“I celebrate,” he said. “I celebrate the fact that we’ve finally got gas in that Mountain Valley Pipeline. Absolutely, I celebrate our natural resources in West Virginia.”
Justice joined others in urging federal officials to continue efforts to streamline regulations to ensure a reliable supply of the energy needed to drive the country’s economy while also providing national security.
“Pipelines are essential energy infrastructure that facilitate the safe and efficient transport of natural gas across regions, and Mountain Valley Pipeline’s completion is a significant win for millions of Americans,” Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia Executive Director Charlie Burd said.
“At its core, the MVP underscores the challenges infrastructure — energy pipelines, electric transmission, roads, etc. — faces in building critical projects that are necessary to economic growth, electric reliability and environmental progress. For the good of our country, policymakers must do everything in their power to ensure the permitting delays MVP faced don’t become the norm,” he said.
We applaud the efforts of state leaders, but especially our two U.S. senators, Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, who helped create enough legislative changes to see the Mountain Valley Pipeline to the finish line.
And while we share the concerns of environmentalists who wish to keep our countryside as pristine as possible, we believe that the best approach continues to be an effort to provide enough safeguards to protect the public and the environment while still generating the power needed.
As we’ve often noted, the best approach remains an all-of-the-above approach, with natural gas a prominent part of any successful U.S. energy policy. And for the foreseeable future, that strategy must also include coal while efforts to ramp up more green sources such as solar, nuclear, wind and hydrogen continue.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline has always made sense. It’s good to see it receive final approval and begin operation.