Debt Ceiling Deal Puts Clean Water at Risk

(ANNAPOLIS, MD)—Legislation before the U.S. House of Representatives this week would raise the federal debt ceiling, while also providing legislative approval for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which cuts through a large portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in West Virginia and Virginia. In response, Choose Clean Water Coalition Acting Director Mariah Davis issued the following statement:

"Our rivers and streams are among our most precious resources. Yet the current deal to raise the federal debt ceiling and its approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline would endanger more than 400 streams that the pipeline would cross. This pipeline project has repeatedly violated environmental laws and we have no reason to believe the continued construction will have a different outcome. We are particularly alarmed that the pipeline approval would prohibit legal challenges during the remaining construction.

"While we fully support raising the federal debt ceiling, it is a false dilemma to choose between the health and well-being of our nation's economy or our natural resources. We encourage lawmakers to pass a bill that raises the debt ceiling while not sacrificing clean water."

The Choose Clean Water Coalition is an organization that harnesses the collective power of more than 280 local, state, regional and national groups to advocate for clean rivers and streams in all communities in the Chesapeake region.

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Media Contact:
Drew Robinson
443-927-8049
RobinsonAQ@nwf.org

Header image courtesy of Appalachian Voices