Say NO to the Permitting Reform Bill!
By: Thomas Hynes
The U.S. Senate recently introduced the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. The measure would severely weaken longstanding protections under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act. If passed, this harmful bill would allow dangerous projects – such as pipelines, powerplants, and data centers – to move forward with less environmental scrutiny and fewer opportunities for public input.
Tell your members of Congress to vote NO on permitting reform!
Section 401 of the Clean Water Act provides states and Tribes with an important tool to help protect the water quality of federally regulated waters within their borders. This bill, however, would dramatically weaken states and Tribes rights to protect their own local waters. The bill makes it easier to fast track dangerous projects like extracting coal and oil, harvesting deep sea beds, and constructing new pipelines without adequate environmental protections. It also undermines the Endangered Species Act by exempting some projects from review entirely.
If passed, these reforms could also prohibit future administrations from implementing new rules to combat climate change, severely limiting future presidents from addressing the climate crisis and controlling pollutants.
This bill becomes even more concerning when seen through the lens of data centers and the rapid pace at which they are being planned and constructed. The public must be given a say in how these massive, water-intense facilities will operate as opposed to the type of rubber stamp approval this bill would allow.
Instead of accelerating a clean energy transition, this bill would lock in decades of additional greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution, bypass state, Tribal, and public input, and strip frontline communities of the right to challenge harmful industrial projects. Weakening public participation and government oversight does not create a functional infrastructure process; it invites greater ecological damage and long-term costs.
It’s possible to build the infrastructure we need without damaging the waterbodies we love. Clean energy and grid investments must preserve safeguards for clean water, wildlife, and the communities affected by development. Otherwise such projects fail to meet the standard of clean energy.
Join us in telling Congress to vote NO on permitting reform!