Friends of the Earth (Action)

The full statement from Sen. Cortez Masto. Tribal concerns are the biggest problem for this bill.

The need for a permitting reform package has only grown in the past decade, as bureaucracy has stymied the development of vital projects from clean energy to housing that could lower costs. And I appreciate the work done by Senators Whitehouse and Heinrich to negotiate a bipartisan agreement, as a lasting solution can only be reached by reaching across the aisle. In particular, the transmission and grid reform provisions are very positive. And the changes that they secured in the manager’s amendment make this a better bill. Nevertheless, the bill needs further improvement before I can support it. My top priorities in such an agreement are to bring down energy bills through new clean energy development, to lower emission rates, to support tribal sovereignty, and to stop the administration from attacking American clean energy projects. This includes restoring the billions of dollars in terminated energy projects in California, as well as the offshore wind projects the administration baselessly and illegally canceled. The president’s comments today, that notwithstanding any compromise in this bill, he intends to continue blocking wind projects, demonstrate a singular but telling lack of good faith. I have said from the start that we need to have confidence that any permitting reform legislation is not going to be weaponized by this or any future administration to single out states and provide giveaways to the oil and gas industries. In its current form, this bill does not satisfy those priorities and raises other serious concerns. This legislation 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. While I support the provisions in this bill that require data center companies to cover the costs of grid infrastructure and protect American taxpayers from footing the bill — which mirror my legislation — the legislation overall contains too many giveaways to oil and gas with insufficient constraints on an energy policy that has prioritized corporate profit over the pocketbooks of hard-working Americans and public health. I believe Congress should work on stronger guardrail provisions to ensure that such provisions will not be used to improperly tilt the playing field in favor of fossil fuels by the Trump administration, which has failed to provide any assurance to Congress that it will follow the law if this bill is enacted.