Washington, DC — On Tuesday, more than 360 environmental organizations sent a letter to Senators Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) decrying their immensely regressive Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024. Today, this proposed legislation passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a 15 to 4 vote, with Manchin joining most of the Republicans. If this bill is enacted into law, say the environmental groups, it would lock the United States into continued fossil fuel production — wreaking havoc on our environment, health, and livelihoods — so they are calling on climate champions in Congress to block it.  

Manchin’s bill is essentially a wishlist of fossil fuel industry priorities, mirroring policy ideas that are outlined in the Heritage Foundation’s controversial Project 2025. The bill would undermine the Biden-Harris Administration’s common-sense pause on approvals of new Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) exports. It would severely restrict the time the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has to review export licenses, and mandate automatic approval of the licenses after 90 days. Furthermore, this legislation would force DOE to forgo assessment of environmental justice impacts, leading to more leasing and drilling without federal oversight and community input, as well as volatile markets for U.S. consumers.  

The letter submitted by the 360-plus climate organizations and environmental justice communities expresses their extreme concerns regarding further fossil-fuel buildout and the dangers of preventing DOE from using updated climate science and economic analyses, as well as foregoing assessments of environmental justice impacts when deciding on pending LNG export applications.  

Quentin Scott, Federal Director at CCAN Action Fund, states that: 

“Here we go again. This is another desperate attempt by Senator Manchin to pass his dirty deal. Behind closed doors, and only released days before a vote, Senators Manchin and Barrasso crafted a bill that includes several provisions that are drawn straight from the oil and gas industry’s wish-list. This bill would reverse the Biden-Harris Administration’s pause on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export approvals that environmental justice and frontline communities asked for. This bill would also severely undercut judicial review by limiting statutes of limitations for challenges to projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Mineral Leasing Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Endangered Species Act, and other bedrock environmental laws. 

These provisions are unacceptable and we call on our climate champions in the Senate to reject this last-gasp attempt by Senator Manchin to do the bidding of his fossil fuel friends.” 

After 12 months of record-breaking heat waves – including the hottest days in recorded history – anti-climate legislation like this has no place in America’s future. This bill would immediately and significantly harm communities of all kinds across the United States, and Congress has the moral responsibility to reject it.

# # #

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund is dedicated to driving change in public policies at the local, state and national level to address the climate crisis. Through voter education, lobbying, and participation in the electoral process, we seek to advance our country’s leadership in the global movement towards clean energy solutions — focusing our efforts primarily in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. We know that a vibrant democracy is central to our success so we work to defend democratic integrity wherever we can.