By Alliance Communications Coordinator Amy Durr
In the wake of this week’s overwhelming blue wave election, the Senate may still take a vote during the lame duck session on the “Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026” (S. 5653 BAAJA) permitting bill. This is one of those unusual cases with great intentions, but serious faults that must be remedied.
This long-awaited permitting reform bill will fast track clean energy projects! Sounds great, right? But, it will also aid oil, gas, mining and data center projects just as much, while cutting environmental protections, historic preservation and public input laws, according to 5 Calls.
Yes, the bill contains provisions helping to boost clean energy and lower energy bills. However, it also includes troubling provisions that profoundly weaken key environmental protections and limit communities’ ability to have a say in what happens in their neighborhoods, according to the Sierra Club.
The Sierra Club, along with the Alliance for Sustainability and other environmental and tribal groups, cannot support this legislation without calling on Congressional Democrats to:
- Fix permitting provisions to ensure new standards can be applied to protect public health, public lands and the environment
- Prevent the fossil fuel industry from suing the government for billions of dollars over “disparate treatment” if there are delays or denials with their permits
- Allow future Presidents to undo fossil fuel and mining projects if they were illegally fast-tracked by the Trump Administration
- Restore Tribal consultation in decision making to honor tribal sovereignty
- Permit courts to legally void a decision if it finds that project approval was granted unlawfully (i.e., “vacatur”)
- Ensure states can protect water quality under the Clean Water Act
- Protect wildlife
- Uphold the integrity of the Endangered Species Act to assure the definition of best available science and proper federal consultation
“Fixing the grid shouldn’t require gutting the laws that protect public lands, clean water and sacred sites,” as 5 Calls emphasizes.
Please join the Alliance in calling your senator TODAY to demand they oppose S. 5653 BAAJA unless these harmful provisions are removed or significantly amended. 5 Calls has a call script you can follow, and a link to find the numbers for your Senators. You can also visit senate.gov to find your elected officials and fill out the online contact form.