U.S. Capitol Building. Photo: Wally Gobetz via Flikr
September 22, 2022 (BOSTON, MA) – Late yesterday, the text of Senator Manchin’s “side deal” bill was released, with provisions to speed up fossil fuel permitting and limit community input in projects. Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) released the following statement in response.
“This bill is a thinly veiled attempt to shut out community input and roll back bedrock environmental protections like the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act — effectively green-lighting scores of bad fossil fuel projects and stymying the just and clean energy transition President Biden says he supports,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell. “The bill is also an outrageous sweetheart deal for one pipeline, allowing the project to sidestep both community opposition and federal court decisions blocking the project by giving the developer the court of its choosing. Masquerading these rollbacks as ‘reform’ undermines the debate that we need on permitting reforms that might responsibly facilitate a clean energy transition.”
CLF experts are available for further comment.
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