Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia secured a crucial backer in his new permitting overhaul package that’s been embraced by fossil fuel and clean energy interests but scorned by greens: Sen. Martin Heinrich.
Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, said Tuesday the fight against climate change requires the country to build more transmission lines, invest in “big, promising emerging energy technologies like geothermal” and remove obstacles delaying transformative clean energy projects.
“This legislation is our opportunity to unlock an American-made clean energy future,” Heinrich, who has introduced transmission bills of his own, said in a statement to POLITICO’s E&E News. “It will create good-paying jobs, grow our workforce, and help us deliver affordable and reliable electricity to all Americans — all while helping to meet our ambitious and urgent climate goals.”
Heinrich is in line to be the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee when Manchin retires at the end of this Congress.
His support could go a long way with Democrats who might be skeptical of a package backed by Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent who currently chairs ENR. Heinrich also supported Manchin’s failed 2022 permitting effort.
The latest bill is co-sponsored by John Barrasso of Wyoming, the top Republican on the committee who is seeking to rally support among Republicans.
Even still, it would seem a monumental task to pass such a bill in the current environment. The congressional calendar is dwindling and an unorthodox presidential election is now in full swing.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday suggested he was open to advancing permitting legislation this Congress, an apparent softening of remarks he made earlier this year in which he all but declared the effort dead.
“I’d like to get permitting reform done,” the New York Democrat said in a brief interview, but added he had not seen the legislation released Monday.
Schumer said in May permitting progress this year was “virtually impossible.” But Manchin remained undeterred, and worked privately with Barrasso for months to hammer out a deal that purports to build out the grid and ease environmental reviews for solar, wind and other renewable energy projects as well as benefit the oil, gas and coal industry.
Transmission component
People familiar with the committee’s thinking say they are eyeing to mark up the bill by the end of next week, before lawmakers head home for their five-week August recess.
An aide declined to confirm the timeline but interviews with other senators and aides suggest the Manchin and Barrasso teams have been trying to drum up support for the bill on both sides of the aisle.
One significant component of the permitting bill came from Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), who had included elements of their bill, ‘‘Building Integrated Grids With Inter-Regional Energy Supply Act’’ or the ‘‘BIG WIRES Act’’ (H.R. 5551, S. 2827). That bill seeks to update the country’s patchwork transmission system.
“Folks, this bipartisan bill is BIG NEWS and will deliver the true promise of our Inflation Reduction Act,” Hickenlooper posted on social media. “Red tape and outdated processes are holding back our economic growth and our transition to clean energy, and this package will help us keep up with our energy needs.”
Another provision aiming to secure Democratic backing: language that would bring parity by granting “categorical exclusions” to certain renewable projects. That’s something that has long been afforded to oil and gas. The bill would also provide streamlining for geothermal energy.
Republicans were happy to see buy-in from Barrasso, who is running uncontested for Republican whip next year. He would need to vacate his slot as the top Republican on the committee.
“Just because of the sponsors of the bill I’m encouraged it will be something that’s very targeted and important to changing the permitting in this country that has prevented us from mining and producing oil and gas and creating resource management plans,” added Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.). “So I look forward to reading it.”
Similarly, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he had talked to Barrasso about the effort but was waiting to see the final version of the text. He had hoped to see his legislation included, the “Reinvesting in Shoreline Economics (RISEE) Act,” S. 373, a bipartisan bill that would establish a revenue-sharing system for offshore wind energy. “It’s incredibly important to our country,” he said.
Language from that bill didn’t make it into the text released Monday. But Cassidy’s comments reveal the range of possibilities lawmakers are eyeing for a final version, which could end up attached to a larger vehicle like the annual defense policy bill.
Sen. Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska), a former Energy and Natural Resources chair, said of the permitting package, “My staff is working through it.”
Republican wins
The bill would require onshore oil and gas leasing sales on land nominated by industry. It would reverse a Biden administration pause on liquefied natural gas export approvals and institute a 90-day deadline. And the bill would establish a 150-day statute of limitations for court challenges of energy or mineral projects.
On transmission, the bill would empower the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue permits for projects without requiring the Energy secretary to make a special determination.
“There are a lot of really exciting provisions in this legislation,” said Christina Hayes, executive director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid. “It’s not everything everyone wants. This bill reflects a lot of response, feedback that was garnered two years ago.”
She was referring to the Manchin legislation that died in late 2022 at the hands of an unusual mix of lawmakers: progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans.
Democrats then argued the proposed changes to environmental review sidelined underserved communities and were handouts to the oil and gas lobby.
Republicans — still angry at Manchin for working with Democrats to pass the Inflation Reduction Act — said the bill didn’t go far enough to overhaul the permitting process that Republicans have long deplored.
Energy analysts like the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Xan Fishman stressed that the new bill’s emissions benefits outweigh the oil and gas provisions. And the American Clean Energy Association, which represents several types of renewable sources, welcomed the effort.
Environmental groups, however, lined up in opposition. The League of Conversation Voters said it is “filled with more handouts to fossil fuel executives.”
The Natural Resources Defense Council called it “a fossil fuel wolf in clean energy clothing.” Earthjustice said, “We urge Congress to reject this proposal.”
