Senate Advances New Energy Legislation 11/10 06:07

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate on Monday advanced bipartisan legislation 
aimed at speeding up permitting reviews to power data centers and other 
infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week's election 
that soundly repudiated President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.

   The Senate voted 73-25 to formally take up the bill, which senators and the 
president have pushed as a way to meet growing demand for electricity and other 
forms of energy that now face yearslong delays in getting to the grid.

   The legislation's sweeping changes would shorten the timeline to get big 
energy projects started -- both for clean energy and fossil fuel projects -- 
and make sure data centers pay for the energy they use. Anger over artificial 
intelligence data centers and rising electricity prices helped usher in a wave 
of Democrats pledging to clamp down on the massive, energy-hungry structures.

   Trump urged senators to vote for it, calling it a "BIG WIN for U.S. ENERGY 
INDEPENDENCE and DOMINANCE." in a social media post on Sunday. The bill will 
"ensure that we can build Pipelines, Mines, and Power Plants faster than ever 
before, lowering Energy Costs for American Families," Trump wrote.

   Major industry groups representing developers in clean energy and in the oil 
and gas sector also support the bill.

   However, many environmental organizations have panned the deal because they 
say it would lock in fossil fuel development, weaken environmental safeguards 
and make it harder for communities to challenge energy project approvals.

   Midterm results could complicate bill's passage in lame-duck session 

   While the bill has received bipartisan support, the Democrats' sweeping 
midterm win could complicate its passage.

   Some Democrats say the party should use its stronger position in the next 
Congress to pass legislation that produces needed clean energy but limits 
expansion of oil, natural gas and mining. Some critics have said the permitting 
bill as proposed could lead to a vast increase in exports of liquefied natural 
gas and facilitate a "reckless" build-out of data centers powered by natural 
gas.

   House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat who is expected 
to become speaker in January, criticized the bill last week, with his office 
saying it "falls short" in a number of areas.

   Major environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and National Wildlife 
Federation, have strongly opposed the measure in recent days, citing concerns 
about its limits on judicial review and changes to the National Environmental 
Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. The environmental policy law, known as 
NEPA, requires agencies to consider a project's possible impacts and allows the 
public to be heard before a project is approved, but supporters of an overhaul 
say that causes yearslong delays in federal permitting.

   The bill's four main champions -- two Democrats and two Republicans -- 
released a detailed set of amendments Saturday designed to bolster support for 
the legislation.

   The four senators, who lead the chamber's energy and environment panels, 
negotiated the deal weeks before the election. Republican Sens. Shelley Moore 
Capito of West Virginia and Mike Lee of Utah and Democratic Sens. Martin 
Heinrich of New Mexico and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island say Americans are 
tired of paying more in utility bills while projects that could lower costs sit 
stuck in the planning phase for years.

   "Americans can't afford to wait for lower electricity prices. We need to 
pass this bill now," said Heinrich.

   Trump promotes expanding production of oil, natural gas and coal and he 
particularly dislikes offshore wind. His administration has been paying energy 
companies to walk away from offshore wind projects under development. It has 
spent nearly $4 billion on such settlements.

   Whitehouse said a provision in the permitting bill would end the buyouts, so 
the administration will no longer be able to use public money to pay clean 
energy developers to relinquish wind energy leases and oblige them to invest in 
fossil fuels instead.

   Trump told reporters Monday that he still opposes wind energy. When told 
that wind is part of the bill, Trump replied: "Well, the bill hasn't been fully 
negotiated. I will not approve wind turbines because wind turbines are a major 
loser."

   Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland voted against moving the 
legislation forward, in part due to Trump's opposition to offshore wind. Van 
Hollen said the bill does not fully address the administration's efforts to 
block Maryland's pending offshore wind project, which he said would lower 
energy costs for households across the state and create thousands of jobs.

   Senate sponsors are optimistic the bill will pass both chambers 

   At a press conference with Heinrich on Monday, Whitehouse said the bill is 
"the floor, not the ceiling, of our climate and environmental aspirations. And 
we look forward to working to accomplish big things with our big Democratic 
majorities" over the next two years.

   Whitehouse said Trump's support should help the bill move toward a vote in 
the House.

   Heinrich said he worked hard to incorporate feedback from tribal leaders on 
the initial proposal, adding that the amended version requires federal agencies 
to consult with tribes on projects that affect important cultural sites.

   Sponsors also extended the window for objections to agency reports and 
strengthened opportunities for states to weigh in, Heinrich said.

   If passed, the bill will save households billions on electricity costs, 
create jobs, cut emissions and force big corporations to pay their full share 
for data centers instead of pushing energy costs on consumers, he said.

   Capito called the bill "a win for America,'' adding: "We cannot let this 
moment pass by. The reality is this, over the next several years, we will have 
no choice but to increase our national energy production. This is an 
unprecedented opportunity ... to come together to show the American people we 
are listening to you."

   Industry leaders are advocating for the bill's passage, including leaders of 
the American Clean Power Association, which represents clean energy developers, 
and the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry's top lobbying 
group.

   But Bradley Campbell, president of the Conservation Law Foundation, said it 
would be a "terrible mistake" to proceed with the bill in the waning days of 
the current Congress.

   While changes announced Saturday address a few concerns, the bill also comes 
with a gauntlet of new -- and at times conflicting -- rules, Campbell said. He 
said the bill maintains a veneer of federal safeguards while in fact stripping 
the power of federal agencies, states, tribes and communities to identify and 
prevent serious harm to health and the environment.

   Sara Amundson, president of the Humane World Action Fund, said the bill 
weakens the scientific foundation of the Endangered Species Act and could 
create new opportunities to exclude needed wildlife protections.

   "This proposed rewrite of the 'best available science' standard could give 
agencies new grounds to unfairly dismiss credible research, including science 
showing that stronger protections are needed for species at risk," she said, 
urging lawmakers to drop the provision or oppose the bill.