by Misty Severi
The Republican-led Senate voted Monday to advance a bipartisan permitting reform bill as the chamber returns from its month-long recess for the November midterm elections.
The legislation, which passed in a bipartisan 73-25 split, aims to speed up the construction of energy and other infrastructure projects. It also makes it harder for opponents to sue to block projects on environmental grounds and hampers the ability of states and the Environmental Protection Agency to preemptively block them, according to The Hill.
Democrats have voted in favor of the legislation, dubbed the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, because they argued that it will be good for the climate and for consumers’ wallets.
Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said the legislation will save Americans approximately $60 to $80 each month.
“This is a climate and clean energy bill,” Whitehouse said. “Once this bill is law, it will have a more powerful climate effect in the power sector than the [Inflation Reduction Act] will have — largely because of the destruction wrought by Republicans on the IRA — this becomes our biggest implemented climate bill.”
Whitehouse also said the bill will prevent between 1.5 and 1.8 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions and increase the nation’s wind capacity by 25 percent, solar capacity by 28 percent and battery storage capacity by 70 percent.
According to Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, she supported the bill because it would “meaningfully reform the broken federal permitting process. That has been a priority of mine for many years.”
“While I voted to advance BAAJA, I have heard and share the concerns that many Tribes and Tribal Organizations have raised about changes being made to the National Historic Preservation Act. We have worked for weeks with the bill’s sponsors to make meaningful progress on many of those issues through their substitute amendment, but we can and should do more. As we begin floor debate, I look forward to more work with my colleagues as we seek to make this bill even better,” she noted.
California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said he did not support it because the bill “would jeopardize tribal sovereignty through major changes to the National Historic Preservation Act, impact the State of California’s authorities under the Clean Water Act, and constrict federal agencies’ ability to protect vulnerable wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.”
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Misty Severi is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
