The Standardization of Permits and Acceleration of Economic Development (SPEED) Act, led by U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas), would amend the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which “Often called “Magna Carta of federal environmental laws.”
In a statement after the vote, Food & Water Watch Legal Director Tara Heinzen said: He said “For decades, NEPA has ensured commonsense decision-making and community involvement when the federal government considers projects that could harm people and the environment. The SPEED Act would undo NEPA’s protections.”
The group detailed the main ways the SPEED Act attacks NEPA:
- Significantly limits the scope of NEPA review: Removes many measures from NEPA review altogether, potentially allowing factory farms and coal plants to build and expand without any environmental review or public input;
- Limit agency accountability: sets unreasonably short deadlines for challenging inadequate reviews, and limits the ability of courts to stop illegal projects; and
- Putting polluters’ profits above science and the environment: Turns NEPA on its head by requiring agencies to prioritize corporate interests over the public interest and limiting their ability to consider the best science.
“Today’s ridiculous House vote is another handout to polluting corporations at the expense of ordinary people who have to live with the real-world impacts of toxic pollution from dirty industries like fossil fuels and factory farms,” Heinzen said. “This nonsense must die as soon as it reaches the Senate.”
Other activists also looked to the Senate after the vote. Eric Schlenker Goodrich, Executive Director of the Western Environmental Law Center, He said “Renewable energy and climate advocates in the Senate must stand up against the SPEED Act’s repeal of our foundational environmental and community protection law.”
Allie Rosenbluth, Oil Change International US Campaign Director, He stressed “Senators must stand up against the SPEED Act’s attempts to undermine democratic decision-making, pollute our communities, and threaten our collective future.”
Likewise, James Hiatt of For a Better Bayou said, “The SPEED Act protects corporate interests, not the public, and should be rejected by any senator who claims to stand with the people.”
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright, co-coordinator of the Black Coalition for Peace’s Climate, Environment, and Militarization Initiative, warned that the bill “represents another assault on the health of frontline, Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor white communities that have been designated as sacrifice zones by big polluters who have bribed lawmakers with big money to continue a culture of extractive, slash-and-burn, and re-emergence at the expense of oppressed and marginalized peoples.”
“Instead of rushing approval for dirty projects, Congress should increase funding for federal agencies and grassroots organizations accountable to frontline communities to conduct rigorous, legally defensible environmental analyzes,” he continued, pointing to the Environmental Justice for All Act, previously led by the late Democratic congressmen Raúl Grijalva (Arizona) and Donald McEachin (Virginia).
Mar Zepeda Salazar, legislative director at the Climate Justice Alliance, also noted this alternative: “The SPEED Act accelerates harmful and polluting fossil fuel projects, not the community-led clean energy solutions that families and indigenous peoples across the country have long called for. Instead of advancing the SPEED Act — a bill that would strip communities of what little legal protections they still have, weaken safeguards for clean air, land, and water near new industrial development, and avoid meaningful consultation with Federally recognized tribal nations – Congress must work to promote real, community-driven permit reform.”
“An example is the Environmental Justice for All Act, which outlines meaningful public engagement, strong public health protections, respect for tribal sovereignty and consultation obligations, and meaningful investments in agencies and staff,” she said.
Representatives from the Institute for Policy Studies, the Institute for Indigenous Sacred Spaces, and Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice also spoke out against what David Watkins, director of government affairs for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said. condemned As a “Great Holiday Gift Basket for Major Oil and Gas Companies.” He also urged the Senate to “reject this reactionary legislation and stand up to the wealthy polluting industries that are pushing for it.”
Lauren Pagel, Policy Director at Earthworks He pointed out Passing the SPEED Act wasn’t the only way the House on Thursday chose “corporate interests over people, the rights of indigenous peoples, and our environment.” It is too Pass The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act, which “would remove already scarce protections for natural resources and sacred cultural sites in U.S. mining law.”
“Today’s House vote represents a step backward for our nation, but we continue to stand firm for the rights of people and places on the front lines of oil, gas and mining,” Pagel said. “Communities and ecosystems should not pay the price as companies rush to profit from extraction – with the help of our elected officials.”
In addition to these two pieces of legislation, Public Citizen indicated that the House of Representatives approved Power plant reliability law and Reliable energy law Earlier this week. Bills introduced through Congress “under the guise” of bipartisan permit reform “are blatant giveaways to the fossil fuel and mining industries,” said David Arkush, director of the consumer advocacy group’s climate program.
“We need real action to… Lower energy bills “For American families and the fight against the climate crisis,” Arkoosh stressed, calling on Republicans in Congress and President Donald Trump “to accelerate the process of building, storing, and transporting renewable energy — an approach that will not only make energy more affordable and sustainable, but will create American jobs and enhance competitiveness with China, which is rapidly outpacing the United States in future energy technologies.”
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