A US government funding bill was stripped of an effort to speed up the federal approval process for energy projects, dealing a major setback to efforts to fast-track the approval of energy infrastructure including a stalled $6.6 billion natural gas pipeline. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday he agreed to a request by Senator Joe Manchin to remove permitting reform language from the stopgap government spending bill after it became clear the measure didn’t have the votes needed to advance. In a vote immediately after the decision was announced, the bill had enough support to advance in the Senate. “It ... (full story)