By Ian Hanchett
Article Source
On Tuesday’s broadcast of NBC’s “MTP Now,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) stated that while failing to raise the debt limit could cause a recession or depression, she might not support the bill to raise the debt limit and one issue she has is her “responsibility about protecting our environment” and the bill’s permitting reform language.
Dingell said, “We have been told that we could default on our — on the debt ceiling by this weekend. We can’t let that happen. The people that would be impacted by that…[are] real. And the recession that could come, the depression that could come, that’s real. And I know I feel that responsibility.”
She added, “[P]ermitting reform, which, quite frankly, for me, the more I read it — everybody focuses on transmission not being in there and Sen. Manchin’s (D-WV) project — I’m concerned language in there could gut the very heart of NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act). I know it needs to be modernized. My husband wrote it 50 years ago.”
Dingell further stated, “We cannot default. … I know we can’t default. I’ve been very clear about that for months, and that’s a very serious responsibility. But what’s my responsibility about protecting our environment, too?” And “I hear my husband in my ear saying, Deborah, don’t let them gut [NEPA].”