The bipartisan energy bill tearing the climate movement apart
A long-awaited permitting reform proposal would make renewables easier to build, but at a potential cost to communities and the environment.
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) has caused a rift within the climate movement in the United States. On one side are activists, lawyers, and environmentalists who focus on blocking and reducing fossil fuel use. On the other are renewable energy companies and policy experts who focus on building more clean energy.
The new bill, intended to accelerate the construction of power plants, transmission lines, and gas pipelines, does so by weakening environmental laws, speeding up permit timelines, and making it harder to cancel projects already approved by the government.
While supporters argue that building more clean capacity will make it easier to transition away from fossil fuels, opponents claim it jeopardizes tribal nations, marginalized communities, and endangered species. Representative Jared Huffman, a Democrat from California, expressed skepticism about the bill's permitting reform.
The bill, a result of months of bipartisan negotiations between four Senate committee members, is a 400-page compromise between Democrats and Republicans. It faces an uncertain fate in the House of Representatives and its committee hearings. The next few weeks will see intense lobbying efforts from both supporters and opponents of the bill.
The case for building more clean energy emphasizes that it is easier to prevent projects from being built than to build them, especially when it comes to both fossil fuels and renewables. Environmental groups have successfully sued developers for rerouting transmission lines away from cultural sites, while opponents of wind projects in California have delayed developments.
Written by urgent.news from Grist's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
