A bipartisan Senate permitting overhaul cleared a key procedural hurdle on Monday, but its fate is far from certain as Democrats remain split on the measure.
The Senate voted 73-25 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill, clearing the first 60-vote filibuster hurdle.
Senators are planning to offer amendments, the fate of which could determine whether there is enough Democratic support to clear a second filibuster hurdle before final passage.
People were interested in these podcasts
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, or BAAJA for short, updates several existing laws governing the federal permitting process for energy, infrastructure and other development projects.
The changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Historic Preservation Act are designed to streamline reviews and approvals needed to build major projects across the U.S.
The measure has divided Democrats. Proponents say it will speed up clean energy development that the Trump administration has tried to slow or halt. Opponents argue the measure eliminates too many environmental and historic preservation safeguards.
The senators who negotiated the bill said it is not everything that either side wanted but reflects an important first step in responding to the affordability concerns that drove voters in last week’s midterm elections.
“We cannot allow the costs of permitting delays to fall to the American people, as they have in the past,” said Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia Republican.
She said the White House Council of Economic Advisers estimated the bill will produce $186 billion in economic output, resulting in wage increases and lower electricity costs for American families.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, the panel’s top Democrat, said the bill’s electricity savings will ensure “families can have money in their pockets for more than just keeping the lights on and their homes warm.”
It will also “cut emissions up to 20% from the power sector over the next decade, meaning cleaner air, healthier communities, and fewer healthcare costs,” he said.
President Trump urged senators to vote for the bill, calling it “a big win for U.S. energy independence and dominance.”
Former Vice President Al Gore, a leading Democratic voice on climate change, came out in opposition to the bill on Monday. He said it “would do far more harm than good.”
“Given how this Administration has run roughshod over the environmental laws and protections that are currently in place, now is not the time to give the Trump administration freer rein to double down on fossil fuels — which is what President Trump would surely do,” he said on social media.
Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the bill “is the floor, not the ceiling, of our climate and environmental aspirations.”
He said if the bill becomes law, it is projected to prevent 1.5 gigatons to 1.8 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade — a greater climate impact than Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act.
“It produces a 25% increase in wind capacity, a 28% increase in solar capacity, a nearly 70% increase in battery storage capacity, which is such an essential piece of moving the clean energy transition forward,” Mr. Whitehouse said. “And it will decrease gas capacity by 16%.”
The bill’s negotiators released a manager’s amendment over the weekend with changes to win over skeptical senators and stakeholder groups.
It was not enough for some.
Sen. Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts Democrat, said he is seeking a better deal.
The bill, as drafted, “asks communities to trade the benefits of interstate transmission and the ability to make data centers pay more for grid power for the sacrifices of weakened clean water protections, intrusion on sovereign Tribal rights, and limits on the ability to be heard and considered during federal approval of projects ranging from hyperscale data centers to petrochemical plants,” he said.
Some Democrats who supported beginning debate on the bill said they cannot vote for final passage without additional changes.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.