Why Democrats Are Fighting Over How to Permit Energy Projects

Sen. Joe Manchin, a crucial Democratic vote in the evenly divided US Senate, has been urging his colleagues to streamline and accelerate the process for obtaining federal permits for energy projects, including in his home state of West Virginia.

Now, a patchwork of federal agencies reviews fossil fuel and renewable energy projects for potential harm to the environment. Manchin, chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and many Republicans want to expedite a system they say has delayed projects in some cases by a decade or more because of environmental protests and litigation.

House progressives, Republicans in both ...