ETRN - McConnell slams energy permitting plan added to year-end defense bill

Equitrans Midstream ( NYSE: ETRN ) turned lower Tuesday, -1.9% , as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he does not support year-end efforts to pass unrelated legislation targeting permits for energy projects as part of must-pass defense legislation.

Active opposition from the Senate Republican leader would not bode well for passage of the measure intended to fast-track energy projects or other add-ons such as a cannabis banking bill, but 10 Republican senators still could break away to join Democrats to vote in favor of the two packages.

Democrat Senator Joe Manchin has continued to push for legislation that would speed permits for energy pipelines - particularly Equitrans' ( ETRN ) $6.6B Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline in West Virginia, Manchin's home state - but McConnell called the effort a "phony, partisan permitting-'reform'-in-name-only language that already failed to pass the Senate this year."

The effort is opposed by environmental groups who say it represents a betrayal by Democrats on climate issues, but Democrat leadership has advocated for its inclusion in the defense bill, and the White House said President Biden supports its addition to the defense bill.

Equitrans Midstream's ( ETRN ) Mountain Valley Pipeline project has been weighed by legal setbacks this year, but "everything is moving favorably for [its] dividends," Daniel Thurecht writes in an analysis posted on Seeking Alpha .

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