Senator Markey Statement on Bipartisan Permitting Reform Proposal

Washington (October 1, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, issued the following statement following the release of a bipartisan permitting reform proposal. “I’m never going to ignore that Trump’s attacks on American-made clean energy fueled the energy crisis we’re in now—not to mention his boosterism of power-hungry data centers—all of which have been enabled by Republicans in Congress. The Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill and the Trump administration’s illegal actions to block clean energy projects and rescind grants have killed tens of thousands of megawatts of clean power, stopped creation of union jobs, raised costs for families at home and on the road, and dumped pollution in communities across the country. Data center developers are hijacking our energy grid and using ratepayers to subsidize their profit-making operations, while also polluting air and water in surrounding communities. I’m still reviewing text of this proposal, and I will be looking closely at the details. Building transmission is important. It’s also important not to lock in more fossil fuels and lock out communities.” ###