GreenLatinos Urges Congress to Reject Fossil Fuel-Driven Energy Permitting Bill
Energy Permitting Reform Act Endangers Climate Goals and Frontline Communities
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Earlier this week, Senators Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024. A bill that weakens the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and heavily favors the fossil fuel industry, including provisions to increase public land and water availability for oil and gas leasing, shorten the amount of time for public comment, fast-track the approval of new fossil fuel infrastructure projects, weaken the enforcement of critical environmental and health laws and reverse the Biden administration's pause of new LNG export approvals among many other detrimental measures.
Following the introduction of this bill, GreenLatinos Climate Justice & Clean Air Program Director Irene Burga released the following statement:
“The proposed bill would be a major setback for our nation's efforts to combat the climate crisis and would further put frontline communities at risk. We acknowledge the urgent need to invest in essential transmission infrastructure, but this bill does not produce the transformative changes needed for a revolutionary clean energy transition. Rather, it delivers a blow to the health of our communities and environment so that the fossil fuel industry can fast-track their profits. Instead, we need legislation like the Environmental Justice for All Act that leads us toward a clean energy future without compromising the opportunity for meaningful public input that strengthens rather than weakens the protections offered by NEPA. Unfortunately, this bill aligns with the extreme agenda of Project 2025, which aims to reverse the significant progress we've made in reducing the harms from the fossil fuel industry and advancing the nation's renewable energy future.”
“The introduction of this bill comes on the heels of unprecedented extreme weather events throughout our nation, events directly linked to our reliance on fossil fuels. This bill signals a neglect of efforts to combat the effects of climate change, further putting the well-being of communities, particularly overburdened frontline communities, at risk. We call on all Senate Democrats to immediately reject this harmful bill.”
About GreenLatinos
GreenLatinos (NOTE: GreenLatinos is ONE WORD) is an active comunidad of Latino/a/e leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.
