In recent weeks, both have published lengthy blog posts outlining the pros and cons of the legislation, named the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, or BAAJA. For my feature this week, I reached out to many green groups to hear how they’re thinking about the legislation.
They argue that changing how transmission infrastructure is planned and permitted would be a clear win for clean energy, and likely to slash U.S. climate-warming pollution over the next decade. But sections on “project certainty” — aimed at stopping presidents from attacking specific energy sectors — as well as those limiting the ability of states and courts to block projects, risk being too great a gift to the oil and gas industry that’s already in high-demand from new data centers.
“While NRDC is encouraged by the transmission provisions, other elements of the bill are deeply flawed,” the group wrote earlier this week. “We will be seeking improvements in the coming weeks and will take a position on the bill before a floor vote.”
The bipartisan group of four senators who negotiated BAAJA are considering technical changes to the bill, according to an aide. If any are agreed to, they would be incorporated in a so-called managers amendment ahead of a final floor vote. But the odds any changes on the margins would be enough to sway green groups may be small, considering the already uphill battle to appease both Democrats and Republicans in a polarized Congress.
Green groups’ refusal to endorse permitting reform might’ve been a death knell for the legislation in the past. But their hold on leftist politics has begun to falter, as clean energy developers and supporters of the pro-growth “abundance” movement like Third Way and the Searchlight Institute rally in support of BAAJA.
These more centrist groups argue that making it easier to build projects like solar, wind, battery storage, and transmission lines is the quickest and most politically viable way to decarbonize the economy — even if that means making concessions to the oil and gas industry.
A lot of the debate is rooted in a potential worst-case scenario for environmental groups’ priorities. What’s missing, however, is independent analyses on BAAJA’s projected impacts.
