I had never fought a multibillion-dollar crude oil pipeline company, let alone two. In late September, Sen. Manchin backed out of his proposed permitting reform bill, which would have allowed the MVP to go forward. So what caused him to abandon the permitting reform bill so quickly? We don’t have to build more pipeline infrastructure to expand clean energy infrastructure. But make no mistake: Fossil fuel companies will ensure this permitting reform bill will rear its ugly head again.