Senators must not attach the dirty permitting rider to NDAA
Washington, DC
Mason Cummings, TWS
Dirty permitting bill could be attached to must-pass legislation as an amendment, despite opposition from community, justice and environmental groups.
After the House excluded the dirty permitting deal from the NDAA’s base text last week, the Senate could bring the deal to a vote as an amendment to the NDAA, opening the door once again for the dirty permitting deal to hitch a ride on must-pass legislation.
If approved as an amendment, the permitting deal would change the federal energy project permitting process in order to fast-track drilling, mining and pipeline projects nationwide that threaten communities’ well-being, including mandating and expediting the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
After failing to get his dirty permitting bill attached to the NDAA base text, Senator Joe Manchin immediately released the Building American Energy Security Act of 2022, which is a revised version of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022. The revised text is worse in many critical ways, including further weakening the National Environmental Policy Act and forcing agencies to arbitrarily rush environmental analyses that are critical to protecting frontline communities.
The following statement is from Lydia Weiss, Senior Government Relations Director at The Wilderness Society.
“Rumors abound about Senate leaders allowing Senator Manchin’s toxic rider on the NDAA. This bill has failed to advance twice now, and it would be distressing to see the NDAA, which has historically been immune from these kinds of politics, now become the vehicle for policy that can’t pass on its own,” said Lydia Weiss, Senior Government Relations Director at The Wilderness Society. “We call on Congressional leaders to move the NDAA forward without this rider.”
Resistance from Members of Congress, Appalachian and other community groups, tribes and Native organizers, and conservation and climate organizations has stopped the bill from hitching a ride on must-pass legislation twice before. It can be stopped again if Senators step up and do not entertain attaching this toxic policy to the NDAA.
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For more information, contact Tony Iallonardo at newsmedia@tws.org
