Senate Democrats are pulling the plug on permitting reform talks with Republicans, out of frustration that the GOP isn't including any safeguards to stop President Donald Trump's ongoing attacks on wind power, Politico's Joshua Siegel reported on Monday.
"There was a deal to be had that would have taken politics out of permitting, made the process faster and more efficient, and streamlined grid infrastructure improvements nationwide," wrote Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) in a joint statement. "But any deal would have to be administered by the Trump Administration. It's reckless and vindictive assault on wind energy doesn't just undermine one of our cheapest, cleanest power sources, it wrecks the trust needed with the executive branch for bipartisan permitting reform."
"By sabotaging U.S. energy innovation and killing American jobs, the Trump Administration has made clear that it is not interested in permitting reform," they continued. "It will own the higher electricity prices, increasingly decrepit infrastructure, and loss of competitiveness that result from its reckless policies. The illegal attacks on fully permitted renewable energy projects must be reversed if there is to be any chance that permitting talks resume. There is no path to permitting reform if this administration refuses to follow the law."
Both parties have, for years, expressed growing interest in overhauling the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) due to concerns that the permitting process for energy, transportation, and other projects has become overly burdensome, cumbersome, and expensive, adding unnecessary costs and delays.
Democrats, however, want any deal to stop Trump's efforts to shut down green energy projects, including suspending leases for offshore wind farms and efforts to halt a new offshore wind array near Rhode Island that is 80 percent complete.
Trump has had a vendetta against wind power ever since a project altered views at his golf course in Scotland, and he often attacks wind turbines baselessly at his rallies.
A similar sticking point has emerged in the House, where the bipartisan SPEED Act similarly seeks to reform NEPA. Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee have raised alarms that the bill, as written, would still allow the Trump administration to sandbag green energy projects. In contrast, fossil fuels and mining projects are expedited.
They are also concerned that the bill would actually have the opposite of its intended effect, writing on X, "It blindfolds federal agencies from considering the full scope of a project's consequences. The language is so vague, it'll trigger years of litigation over what counts as an 'impact.' Republicans say they want less litigation. This bill will just create more."
