September 21, 2022

STOP BILL TO FAST TRACK HARMFUL FOSSIL FUEL PROJECTS!

CALL TO ACTION!

As part of the deal to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, Senators Manchin and Schumer are introducing a separate piece of legislation that would fast-track permit approvals for dangerous fossil fuel projects. This is a #DirtyDeal written by and for the fossil fuel industry. Leader Schumer plans to attach this legislation to a must-pass government spending bill next week, so we must act quickly to do everything we can to stop this legislation in its tracks.

#StopTheDirtyDeal

Please contact Sen. Schatz, Sen. Hirono, and Rep. Kahele TODAY and ask them to step up publicly to oppose this “side-deal” drafted by the fossil fuel industry to fast-track dirty oil, gas, and coal projects and demand it be separated from the budget!

 

SEN SCHATZ (808) 523-2061

SEN HIRONO (808) 522-8970

REP KAHELE (808) 746-6220

 

Thank Rep. Case for already doing so!

REP CASE (808) 650-6688

 

SAMPLE CALL SCRIPT:

“Hi, my name is ____, & I’m from ____. I’m deeply concerned about the legislation negotiated by Senators Manchin and Schumer that would fast-track fossil fuel projects and strip away the chance for public input or meaningful environmental review. It’s unacceptable and undemocratic. As your constituent I’m calling on you to publicly oppose this dirty deal and demand it be separated from the budget.  We cannot afford any more dangerous fossil fuel projects that threaten our climate & communities.”

 

 

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.