Thanks to the fierce resistance from frontline communities and concerned citizens across the country, including AWESOME activists from 350Hawaii, Senator Joe Manchin withdrew his so-called “permitting reform” bill from September’s must-pass government funding legislation.

But we’ve learned that the language from the side-deal could still show up in other must-pass legislation by the end of this year, so the fight continues. We will need to keep up the pressure on Congress, making clear we will not stand for any #DirtyDeal and holding other legislation hostage to it.

Let’s make sure the Dirty Deal stays dead!  We did it once and we’ll do it again!

Call our Congressional Delegation and urge them to publicly oppose any future fossil fuel permitting deal. #NoDirtyDeal!

 

REP. KAHELE (808) 746-6220 (202) 225-4906

[STATUS: No public position]

 

REP. CASE (808) 650-6688 (202) 225-2726

[STATUS: Opposes bill]

 

SEN. SCHATZ (808) 523-2061 (202) 224-3934

[STATUS: Supports bill]

 

SEN. HIRONO (808) 522-8970 (202) 224-6361

[STATUS: No public position]

 

SAMPLE SCRIPT:

“Hi, my name is ____, & I’m from ____. I’m very concerned about Senator Manchin’s efforts to fast track fossil fuel projects and cut the voice of the public out of the permitting process. Even though Manchin’s permitting bill was removed from the Continuing Resolution, I am concerned that it will be attached to another bill in the future. As your constituent, I am calling on you to publicly oppose any policies that would expand or fast-track pipelines and other fossil fuel projects. We need to be moving away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible and this legislation would lock us into decades of pollution.”

 

BACKGROUND

  • Senator Manchin’s dirty deal would fast track dangerous fossil fuel projects that threaten our climate and communities.
  • Under the plan backed by Manchin and fossil fuel CEOs, big polluting oil and gas companies could force through dirty, dangerous fossil fuel projects in any neighborhood and community where they want to build them, cutting the voice of the public out of the process.
  • This plan would attempt to rubber stamp the Mountain Valley Pipeline – a dirty project that neighboring communities have said they don’t want and have been fighting for years.
  • We can’t let the fossil fuel industry build whatever polluting project they want, wherever they want. The public has to be able to have a say – especially the frontline, low-income and BIPOC communities that have far too often been targeted for these projects.
  • There are better ways to safely reform our infrastructure approval process than this dirty deal that guts bedrock environmental protections, cuts out the voice of the public, endangers public health, and fast tracks more dangerous fossil fuel projects.

Manchin’s Dirty Deal Silences the Public to Fast Track Fossil Fuel Projects

  • This dirty deal gives all the power to fossil fuel companies to decide where and when to build dangerous, polluting projects.
  • The deal guts the environmental review process and silences the public’s voice in decision making, taking away the tools that ensure our communities have a say in the fossil fuel project proposals that threaten our water, land, and public health.
  • The dirty deal would take a chainsaw to the National Environmental Policy Act, one of our bedrock environmental laws that has protected our public health and environment for decades.
  • Manchin wants to gut the law that has helped frontline communities fight back against corporations seeking to steal their land, poison their water, and pollute their air – and he wants to turn the decision making power over to fossil fuel executives.
  • A draft text of this legislation that is circulating around Congress has a watermark from the American Petroleum Institute, Big Oil’s lobbying front group. This is a deal by and for the fossil fuel industry.
  • This deal is a direct threat to environmental justice, sacrificing the communities already overburdened with fossil fuel pollution and climate impacts in order to maximize industry profits.
  • Under Manchin’s dirty deal, there would be little left to stop a big pipeline company from ramming dangerous projects through any neighborhoods, farmland, sensitive ecosystems, or community without public input or meaningful environmental review.

This Dirty Deal Isn’t Necessary to Build More Renewable Energy

  • No one should be fooled: this is a dirty deal designed to fast track fossil fuels, not get more renewable energy projects built. The fossil fuel industry wants to build dirty projects quickly so they can try and crowd clean energy out of the market – and this plan gives them that chance.
  • We’re already building lots of renewable energy under the current rules and we can build lots more.
  • If we want to move even faster, we shouldn’t be weakening environmental laws, but investing more resources into the agencies and staff who can help get these projects built in a responsible way that gives the public a say in their construction.
  • NEPA isn’t the roadblock to infrastructure projects that industry scaremongers make it out to be: only one out of every 450 NEPA reviews are challenged in court.
  • The administration already has the tools it needs to accelerate the permitting for clean energy and environmentally friendly projects, so there’s no need for Congress to act.