Permitting “Reform” Package is a Holiday Gift to Big Oil and Gas, Lump of Coal for the Public

The U.S. House of Representatives passed controversial, ill-conceived legislation today, known as the SPEED Act, which would erode public and environmental safeguards in place for largescale projects, such as building new infrastructure or federal land management decisions, funded or permitted by the federal government. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, it would slash requirements mandated by the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a foundational environmental law.

NEPA outlines a robust process for environmental reviews based on scientific rigor, transparency and deliberation, all of which require appropriate time and effort. It is also one of the few laws that communities can use to highlight environmental justice concerns.

Below is a statement by David Watkins, director of government affairs for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

"This bill is a sizeable holiday gift basket for Big Oil and Gas. It includes goodies like shielding fossil fuel projects from meaningful review or public input before they are permitted, then shielding them from legal recourse after they are approved. Our elected officials are letting people down by supporting this regressive legislation designed to give an antiquated industry more time to profit from their dangerous and deadly polluting at a time when our communities, our economy and our planet need forward-looking clean energy policies. The bill even allows federal agencies to ignore scientific or technical information related to permit applications. Circumventing science and denying reality will only lead to greater harm to our environment and worse outcomes for communities.

"So, while the Trump administration throttles renewable energy projects with one hand, the House has just passed a bill to further advantage the only energy option Big Oil and Gas wants you to have. The SPEED Act was never a negotiated, serious or balanced proposal, and it got even more extreme during House consideration. Such a law would take the nation backwards when it desperately needs to move forward. The Senate must reject this retrograde legislation and stand up to the deep-pocketed, polluting industries lobbying for it."