Bipartisan negotiations over accelerating environmental reviews for energy and infrastructure projects broke down Monday in reaction to the Trump administration taking new steps to smother the offshore wind industry.
Democratic negotiators said Monday they were ceasing talks with Republicans because of the Interior Department’s announcement that it paused leases for five offshore wind projects that were fully permitted and under construction — one of which was already pumping energy into the grid.
The failure of talks is a major blow to hopes for permitting reform legislation that many business groups say is needed to allow critical infrastructure projects to move forward.
Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), two top negotiators on permitting reform, said in a statement Monday afternoon, “The illegal attacks on fully permitted renewable energy projects must be reversed if there is to be any chance that permitting talks resume.”
“There is no path to permitting reform if this administration refuses to follow the law,” they said in the statement, obtained by Politico.
Democrats have for months expressed hesitancy to sign a major permitting reform bill, citing concerns that the Trump administration would not administer any reforms fairly and would discriminate against renewable energy.
While Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, they will need Democratic support to meet the 60-vote threshold required to pass meaningful legislation.
Democrats were optimistic about reaching a bipartisan deal in the weeks leading up to the Trump administration’s decision to pause the offshore wind leases.
Earlier this month, Whitehouse told the Washington Examiner that his party received “pretty good signals” from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on such a deal. He explained that he had also met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to discuss how he could help advance discussions.
“I think there’s a lot of potential in the Senate,” Whitehouse said, adding, “The plan is that the bill will be put together here and then sent over to the House.”
Just last week, the House advanced the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act, also known as the SPEED Act, with nearly a dozen Democrats in favor, marking a major milestone in the yearslong effort to send permitting reform to the president’s desk.
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The bill would reform the National Environmental Policy Act, a 55-year-old law that requires federal agencies to evaluate the environmental effects of major actions and decisions relevant to their departments. This includes issuing any permits and licenses required for building roads, energy infrastructure such as transmission lines, large load facilities including data centers, and much more.
The Interior Department paused the leases for the wind projects on Monday, citing national security concerns related to the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers, which create radar interference called “clutter.” The department argued that “clutter” can obscure legitimate targets and generate false targets in their vicinity.
