People’s Environmental Justice Caucus opposes Senate permitting reform bill

October 23, 2026 Press Release WASHINGTON – The People’s Environmental Justice Caucus, founded by U.S. Reps. Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07) , released the following statement in opposition to the U.S. Senate’s permitting reform bill: “The People’s Environmental Justice Caucus stands with the nearly 200 community, labor, and environmental justice groups across the country urging Congress to reject the so-called ‘permitting reform’ deal that speeds up data center and fracked gas pipeline construction, limits communities’ ability to defend themselves from corporate polluters in court, threatens Tribal Nations’ sacred sites and cultural resources, and fails to deliver meaningful affordability or health protections our constituents desperately need. “The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 is a gift to Big Oil and Big Tech. This deal makes it easier to build the fossil energy infrastructure necessary to fuel the data center boom that is overwhelmingly opposed in neighborhoods from coast to coast. In the face of rising bipartisan disgust with data centers and pipelines, this deal eviscerates the limited tools communities already have to challenge developments that threaten their health and environment and effectively locks in dirty energy and destructive tech projects for generations. We should be strengthening judicial review, the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act, not undermining them to provide a rubber stamp to polluting projects. “To make matters worse, this power grab doesn’t even meaningfully protect ratepayers from the soaring energy costs and toxic pollution that data center developments bring to their neighborhoods. Our residents are struggling to cope with overlapping climate, pollution, and affordability crises and need real action from Congress. This bad deal trades lifetimes of pollution and harm for pennies in relief. We urge Congress to reject this power grab and choose our communities over Big Oil and Big Tech.” The People’s Environmental Justice Caucus, launched in March , exists to give frontline environmental justice communities a voice in Congress. The Caucus co-chairs are preparing to reintroduce the landmark Grijalva-McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act to reassert the public’s right to defend their health and environment, and will be kicking off a public participation process to solicit feedback on how to further strengthen these protections. ###