{"id":14980,"date":"2026-11-09T23:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T23:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=14980"},"modified":"2026-11-09T23:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T23:03:10","slug":"senate-weighs-sweeping-energy-legislation-in-first-major-action-since-midterm-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=14980","title":{"rendered":"Senate weighs sweeping energy legislation in first major action since midterm elections"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rep.-Elect Daniel Bliss (D-IL) gives remarks alongside members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol Building on Sunday in Washington, DC. Freshman members of congress are in town for an orientation program to help them prepare for their incoming roles following the midterm election. Getty Images via AFP-Yonhap<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Senate on Monday is set to take up bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up permitting reviews for data centers and other infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week\u2019s election that soundly repudiated President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.<\/p>\n

The Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on the bill, which senators and the president have pushed as officials seek to meet growing demand for electricity and other forms of energy that now faces yearslong delays in getting to the grid.<\/p>\n

The legislation\u2019s sweeping changes would shorten the timeline to get big energy projects started \u2014 both for clean energy and fossil fuel projects \u2014 and make sure data centers pay for the energy they use. Anger over artificial intelligence data centers and rising electricity helped usher in a wave of Democrats pledging to clamp down on the massive, energy-hungry structures.<\/p>\n

Trump urged senators to vote for it, calling it a \u201cBIG WIN for U.S. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE and DOMINANCE.\u201d in a social media post on Sunday. The bill will \u201censure that we can build Pipelines, Mines, and Power Plants faster than ever before, lowering Energy Costs for American Families,\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n

Major industry groups representing developers in clean energy and in the oil and gas sector also support the bill.<\/p>\n

However, many environmental organizations have panned the deal because they say it would lock in fossil fuel development, weaken environmental safeguards and make it harder for communities to challenge energy project approvals.<\/p>\n

While the bill has received bipartisan support, the Democrats’ sweeping midterm win could complicate its passage.<\/p>\n

Some Democrats say the party should use its stronger position in the next Congress to pass legislation that produces needed clean energy but limits expansion of oil, natural gas and mining. Some critics have said the permitting bill as proposed could lead to a vast increase in exports of liquefied natural gas and facilitate a \u201creckless\u201d build-out of data centers powered by natural gas.<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat who is expected to become speaker in January, criticized the bill last week, with his office saying it \u201cfalls short\u201d in a number of areas.<\/p>\n

Major environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation, have strongly opposed the measure in recent days, citing concerns about its limits on judicial review and changes to the landmark National Environmental Policy Act. The 1970 law requires agencies to consider a project\u2019s possible impacts and allows the public to be heard before a project is approved, but supporters of an overhaul say that causes yearslong delays in federal permitting.<\/p>\n

The bill’s four main champions \u2014 two Democrats and two Republicans \u2014 released a detailed set of amendments Saturday designed to bolster support for the legislation.<\/p>\n

The four senators, who lead the chamber\u2019s energy and environment panels, negotiated the deal weeks before the election. Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Mike Lee of Utah and Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island say Americans are tired of paying more in utility bills while projects that could lower costs sit stuck in the planning phase for years.<\/p>\n

“Americans can\u2019t afford to wait for lower electricity prices. We need to pass this bill now,\u201d said Heinrich.<\/p>\n

Trump promotes expanding production of oil, natural gas and coal and he particularly dislikes offshore wind. His administration has been paying energy companies to walk away from offshore wind projects under development. It has spent nearly $4 billion on such settlements.<\/p>\n

Whitehouse said a provision in the permitting bill would end the buyouts, so the administration will no longer be able to use public money to pay clean energy developers to relinquish wind energy leases and oblige them to invest in fossil fuels instead.<\/p>\n

At a press conference with Heinrich on Monday, Whitehouse said the bill is \u201cthe floor, not the ceiling, of our climate and environmental aspirations. And we look forward to working to accomplish big things with our big Democratic majorities\u201d next year.<\/p>\n

Heinrich said he worked hard to incorporate feedback from tribal leaders on the initial proposal, adding that the amended version requires federal agencies to consult with tribes on projects that affect important cultural sites.<\/p>\n

Sponsors also extended the window for objections to agency reports and strengthened opportunities for states to weigh in, Heinrich said.<\/p>\n

If passed, the bill will save households billions on electricity costs, create jobs, cut emissions and force big corporations to pay their full share for data centers instead of pushing energy costs on consumers, he said.<\/p>\n

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Rep.-Elect Daniel Bliss (D-IL) gives remarks alongside members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol Building on Sunday in Washington, DC. Freshman members of congress are in town for an orientation program to help them prepare for their incoming roles following the midterm election. Getty Images via AFP-Yonhap WASHINGTON…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","category-trending-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t