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dirty deal
Campaigners Demand 'Biden Make a Final Stand' for Climate Before Trump Takeover
"Trump is not in office yet, and the Democrats have the power to do so much more in the coming weeks to stand up to this fossil fuel agenda, and we need them to seize this moment," said one campaigner.
Nov 17, 2024
With the clock winding down on President Joe Biden's tenure and the dark cloud of Republican President-elect Donald Trump's imminent administration looming, activists rallied Sunday in Washington, D.C. to demand that the Biden administration "use every tool possible to make progress on climate justice" while there's still time.
Under the rallying call "Biden make a final stand, fossil fuels destroy this land," members and allies of groups including the Green New Deal Network, 350.org, Center for Biological Diversity, Fridays for Future USA, Extinction Rebellion D.C., Sunrise D.C., Oil Change International, Food & Water Watch, and others gathered outside the headquarters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—which will be run by fracking champion Lee Zeldin if Trump's nominee is confirmed by what will be a Republican-controlled Senate.
"The stakes could not be higher. Donald Trump and his fossil fuel allies are about to take control of the White House, doubling down on dirty energy policies that are destroying our planet and our communities," Food & Water Watch policy director Jim Walsh told attendees of Sunday's protest. "We will not stand by idly and watch them put the profits of fossil fuel companies above the health and well-being of our communities."
"Trump is not in office yet, and the Democrats have the power to do so much more in the coming weeks to stand up to this fossil fuel agenda, and we need them to seize this moment," Walsh continued. "We know the truth: To protect our communities, we must phase out fossil fuels. No more drilling! No more pipelines! No more permits! We need bold action on climate, and we need it now!"
In addition to calling on congressional Democrats to reject a permitting reform bill introduced earlier this year by Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) that critics have linked to Project 2025, a conservative coalition's agenda for a far-right overhaul of the federal government.
Walsh called the proposed legislation—which has previously been derided as Manchin's "dirty deal"—a "giveaway to the fossil fuel industry masquerading as some sort of bipartisan energy solution."
"In reality, this bill will clear the way for decades of pollution and climate chaos," Walsh added. "It will poison communities for the profits of fossil fuel interests. This will do nothing except forward Donald Trump and the Project 2025 agenda."
Walsh also called on Biden to reject half a dozen permits related to the export of liquefied natural gas.
The rally coalition is calling on Biden to take the following action during the remaining 63 days of his administration:
- Declare climate change a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act;
- Declare climate change a national emergency under the Stafford Act;
- Redirect all agency funds towards renewable energy and away from fossil fuels to build back fossil-free in impacted communities; and
- Establish high labor standards to protect workers against extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and other climate emergencies through strong Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations.
"President Biden has the power to act today," Walsh stressed.
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Progressives Rip Effort to Insert Dirty Deal Into Debt Ceiling Hostage Agreement
"These dangerous and dirty permitting deals are a matter of life and death for millions of people across our country who are already overburdened by decades of fossil fuel pollution," warned one campaigner.
May 25, 2023
Climate action advocates responded with outraged alarm Thursday to reporting that U.S. President Joe Biden and congressional Republicans may try to strike a "dirty deal" on permitting reforms as part of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling.
The deliberations continue as fears of an economically catastrophic default are growing, with just a week until the U.S. government could run out of money to pay its bills if Congress doesn't increase the debt limit, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
"We should not be throwing people and the planet under a gas-guzzling bus just so that polluters can more easily build destructive projects."
Citing two unnamed sources close to the talks, The Washington Post reported:
The emerging deal would ease the process of building the interstate transmission lines needed to carry clean electricity across the country—a top priority for Democrats and a boon for President Biden's climate agenda, said the two individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private negotiations.
To sweeten the deal for Republicans, the agreement would make modest changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, a 1970 law that requires the federal government to analyze the environmental impact of its proposed actions. GOP lawmakers have long blamed the bedrock environmental law for the yearslong delays that plague new highways, pipelines, and other infrastructure projects nationwide.
The transmission policy would be based on the forthcoming Building Integrated Grids With Inter-Regional Energy Supply (BIG WIRES) Act from Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), the newspaper noted, adding that the agreement "would include only incremental changes" sought by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and fellow Republicans.
House Republicans notably included H.R. 1—their fossil fuel-friendly energy package—in the so-called Limit, Save, Grow Act, the "debt ceiling scam" the GOP passed last month and which established the party's priorities for the ongoing negotiations.
In response to the Post's reporting, Friends of the Earth government and political affairs director Ariel Moger said that "once again, lawmakers are expected to make the unconscionable decision to tack unpopular and environmentally harmful policies onto a must-pass bill. This deal will put communities already suffering from environmental racism at further risk by gutting essential laws."
"We should not be throwing people and the planet under a gas-guzzling bus just so that polluters can more easily build destructive projects," Moger argued. "Biden and congressional Democrats should stand up for environmental justice, reject this dirty deal, and pass a clean debt limit increase."
\u201cWe all know that we need to make the transition to clean energy as quickly as possible, but @POTUS is reportedly considering a #DirtyDeal that would lock in more fossil fuels. Keep fossil fuel handouts out of the debt ceiling deal! https://t.co/vCr7JgmqKW\u201d— Sierra Club (@Sierra Club) 1685042165
Oil Change International U.S. program co-manager Allie Rosenbluth stressed that "these dangerous and dirty permitting deals are a matter of life and death for millions of people across our country who are already overburdened by decades of fossil fuel pollution, the impacts of climate change, and compromised public health."
"The increased exposure to oil spills, gas leaks, air pollution, and water contamination would exacerbate existing environmental injustices and the climate crisis," Rosenbluth continued. "We must draw a red line and say no to Republicans taking our economy hostage to line the pockets of the fossil fuel industry."
“President Biden must enforce a clean debt ceiling package that does not allow for any rollbacks to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or other bedrock environmental laws," she added. "While his recent climate track record has been nothing short of disastrous, it is not too late for him to turn it around and hold true to his environmental justice campaign promises."
The Biden administration has recently come under fire for backing ConocoPhillips' Willow oil project and a liquified natural gas (LNG) proposal, both in Alaska, as well as the incomplete Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in Virginia and West Virginia.
\u201cWe need to do everything we can RIGHT NOW to stop a debt ceiling deal from including dirty permitting reforms that fast track fossil fuels. \n\n@StopBigOil just released this ad targeting key decision makers. Please share and tag your member of Congress!\u201d— Jamie Henn (@Jamie Henn) 1685037069
The MVP is a longtime priority of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a "coal baron" and recipient of fossil fuel industry campaign cash who only supported the Inflation Reduction Act last year in exchange for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) agreeing to push through permitting reforms friendly to the coal, gas, and oil companies.
Although opposition from frontline communities and progressives in Congress blocked versions of Manchin's "dirty deal" three times last year, he has since renewed his effort, introducing the Building American Energy Security Act—which calls for completing the MVP—earlier this month. A Biden aide said the White House backs the bill.
House Natural Resources Committee Democrats and the League of Conservation Voters highlighted Thursday that 83 lawmakers have signed a letter urging Biden, Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) "to oppose ongoing attempts to attach H.R. 1 or any other extreme proposals that gut our bedrock environmental and public laws to must-pass legislation."
\u201c#ThrowbackThursday to yesterday when 83 Democrats sent a letter to @POTUS, @SenSchumer & @RepJeffries opposing the #DirtyDeal.\n\nAs @RepRaulGrijalva said, "Our environment and health are not the GOP\u2019s bargaining chips."\u201d— Natural Resources Democrats (@Natural Resources Democrats) 1685032817
The panel's ranking member, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), led the letter and congressional opposition to last year's dirty deals.
"The growing list of my Democratic colleagues and I couldn't be more clear: Our environment and health are not the GOP's bargaining chips," Grijalva said in a statement Wednesday. "Gutting our bedrock environmental laws isn't permitting reform—it's a polluter payout. Speaker McCarthy and his extremist faction need to end this reckless scheme to force their MAGA-manufactured, polluters-over-people agenda on the American people now."
Though Jeffries is on the receiving end of the letter, he made clear Thursday that his caucus won't automatically support a Biden-backed deal, telling reporters that "it's a miscalculation to assume that simply any agreement that House Republicans are able to reach will, by definition, trigger a sufficient number of Democratic votes—if that agreement undermines our values."
\u201c\ud83d\udca1Research should inform permitting reform!\ud83d\udca1Find out what the *data* says about NEPA reviews and causes for delay: https://t.co/3yP63ck9qY\u201d— Kristina Karlsson (@Kristina Karlsson) 1685024109
Meanwhile, the Roosevelt Institute this week published an issue brief by Jamie Pleune, associate professor of law at the University of Utah, debunking the claim that reviews required by NEPA are hampering the transition to renewable energy.
"After examining 41,000 NEPA decisions conducted by the Forest Service over 16 years, we found limited correlation between the intensity of the NEPA process in question and the existence of delays," said Pleune. "Furthermore, some projects that were eligible for expedited analyses encountered delays, while some intensely studied projects were completed quickly. This indicated that the true causes of delay were external to the regulatory requirements of NEPA."
"Reducing analytical rigor or weakening environmental standards, which are some of the permitting reforms on the table in debt ceiling talks, won't address the true blockages to the buildout of renewables," she added. "In my brief, I provide progressive permitting reform, with demonstrated effectiveness, that will strengthen and improve NEPA processes while preserving community engagement and environmental protections."
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It Is Time to Kill the ‘Dirty Deal’ Once and For All
Senator Joe Manchin and others in government are using the current push for “permitting reform” as a full-scale political attack on bedrock environmental laws.
May 17, 2023
Here we go again! Last year my Senator, Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced his “Dirty Deal Bill” to placate his fossil fuel friends and funders. This bill would gut the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) and silence most citizens who oppose any fossil fuel project, especially the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) that travels across my farm, near my home in southern West Virginia. His bill is also championed by some House Republicans who passed H.R. 1 at the end of March of this year.
Both of these bills are just shameless giveaways that contain blatant handouts and loopholes for the oil, gas, and mining industries. H.R.1 was fittingly renamed the Polluters Over People Act by those of us that believe we need to protect our environment. While oil companies’ record-breaking profits make it clear that they’re not an industry that needs any government assistance, Manchin, Republicans, and a few others like Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and President Joe Biden continue to push legislation to gut our most fundamental environmental and public health laws, namely the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), legislation that will only lock us in to another generation of unnecessary fossil fuel dependency and line the pockets of industry CEOs.
Do not be fooled by industry talking points that use innocent sounding words like “streamlining,” “modernizing,” “energy independence,” or the latest popular catch phrase—“permitting reform.” This is just a ploy to pull the wool over the American people’s eyes and push through their climate disaster ideas with legislation like the “Dirty Deal” and the “Polluters Over People Act.”
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we must rapidly transition to clean energy. Building that infrastructure quickly should be a priority, but not at the expense of already vulnerable communities.
Permitting reform may be needed, but not their brand of reform. What is needed is permitting reform like the recently introduced A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we must rapidly transition to clean energy. Building that infrastructure quickly should be a priority, but not at the expense of already vulnerable communities. The A. Donald McEachin EJ Act would help make sure that this happens fairly for everyone concerned.
Unfortunately, Manchin and others in government are using the current push for “permitting reform” as a full-scale political attack on NEPA and other bedrock environmental laws. We have beaten back these attacks five times over the past several months, but it is now time to stop these attacks once and for all.
The Fossil Fuel industry and their friends in government will seize every possible opportunity to wage war on NEPA and other environmental and safety regulations. Their only concerns are their own profits, not the well-being of the impacted residents or communities. In fact, it does not appear that they care for much of anything except their bottom line. It is a fact that over the past 50 years Congress has passed these bedrock laws and policies with overwhelming bipartisan support, and now is not the time to roll them back. The American people demand a seat at the table in federal decision-making and should not be sacrificed for the profit of fossil fuel or other corporations.
Social justice is the act of giving each and everyone in a community equal opportunities and resources, scaling both the poor and the rich equally and bringing balance in almost every aspect of society. NEPA is currently the last line of defense that many social injustice communities have to protect themselves against life threatening pollution and other harms that many projects would subject them too.
If you agree with me and House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), who authored a new opinion piece for The Hill on NEPA and believe that our rights to protect ourselves from the greed and pollution of these uncaring corporations is an important issue, please let your senators and representatives in Congress know.
You can also join me in front of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission offices at 888 First Street NE in Washington D.C. on Thursday morning May 18 or on June 8 at the White House to let Biden and others know we don’t want the MVP or other unnecessary fossil fuel projects.
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