Gabby Kientzle, gabby.kientzle@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – Today, Senators Joe Manchin and John Barrasso released the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, new legislation that would open up federal lands and waters to more leasing and drilling and unnecessarily rush the review of proposed gas export projects, forcing decisions to be based on flawed, outdated studies.
While the bill includes provisions that may accelerate the deployment of clean energy and the transmission infrastructure that is needed to support it, including some Sierra Club has supported in other contexts, the Biden-Harris administration has already put forward comprehensive policies to unleash clean energy, improve the resilience of the power grid, and improve affordability for consumers. Most recently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finalized new transmission planning and allocation requirements that are expected to jumpstart urgently needed transmission infrastructure, and the Department of the Interior finalized a new federal rule to promote solar and wind energy development on public lands by reducing capacity fees and streamlining the review of new project development applications.
The Clean Electricity and Transmission Acceleration (CETA) Act, proposed late last year by Representatives Sean Casten and Mike Levin, offers a real solution to address permitting issues that often slow the deployment of renewable energy sources and the transmission infrastructure that is crucially needed to support them, without including handouts for the fossil fuel industry or sacrificing communities.
In response, Sierra Club Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy Director Mahyar Sorour released the following statement:
“Those who promote this kind of so-called ‘permitting reform’ claim that it’s necessary to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, but in truth this is nothing more than yet another attempt by fossil fuel industry boosters to give handouts for polluters at the expense of our communities and the climate. We urge Congress to put forward real solutions to build a clean energy economy, and not pair those reforms with more attempts to pad the pockets of fossil fuel executives under the guise of reducing emissions.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.