Key facts
- The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act would overhaul federal permitting for energy and infrastructure projects.
- Senator Martin Heinrich said he is not going to wait to advance the bill.
- Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said a good permitting bill is a bird in the hand.
- TD Cowen cut its outlook for the bill's success to about 25% from about 40%.
- Representative Jared Huffman and environmental groups want to pursue a broader bill in the new Congress.
- Representatives for Republican Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Mike Lee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Democratic authors of proposed bipartisan energy permitting legislation said on November 4 they would not hold the bill back in hopes of a better deal next year, when Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress.
The measure, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, would overhaul federal permitting for energy and infrastructure projects. It is the product of a years-long effort to speed construction of transmission lines, mines and both renewable and fossil fuel projects, and is expected to be a focus of Congress now that the midterm elections are over.
Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said in a statement to Reuters: "This is the closest we have come to actually finding something that can get signed into law, and I'm not going to wait." Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said in a separate statement: "A good permitting bill comes together over years of complex negotiations... It's a bird in the hand. We'd be fools not to take it."
The push to advance the bill in the post-election lame-duck session comes as Representative Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, and environmental groups have argued they can pass more ambitious legislation in a Democratic-controlled Congress. Huffman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Investment firm TD Cowen said on November 4 it cut its outlook for the bill's success to about 25% from about 40%, saying Democrats' election victory "likely emboldens voices arguing bill gives too many concessions to (oil and gas)."
Heinrich said he had long supported negotiating across party lines on the issue, adding: "I've always said I would negotiate in good faith." The bill was negotiated by Heinrich and Whitehouse with Republican Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Mike Lee. Representatives for Capito and Lee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.