San Diegan, 2x dad, husband, enviro lawyer, elected, urbanist. #CA50 #permitreform #SDinDC #YIMBY🥑 #GoDuke #Padres Work acct: @RepScottPeters

San Diego, IAD, BWI
Joined May 2011
Scott Peters retweeted
Sen. Adam Schiff visited San Diego Thursday, stopping at Point Loma High School where he, Democratic members of Congress and San Diego Unified School District leaders denounced immigration enforcement near schools. trib.al/8m1lAaF
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Scott Peters retweeted
My take on the new permitting reform bill @ForeignPolicy. It is among the most important policy measures in decades to advance clean energy, meet rising energy needs, and rein in soaring energy prices--and very likely to lead to a net reduction in carbon emissions. When paired with strong climate policy, it is also necessary to allow the rapid buildout of infrastructure needed to drive emissions sharply down. Rejecting it because it may also benefit oil and gas projects would sacrifice a historic opportunity to advance American security, affordability, and clean energy goals simultaneously. foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/14…
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The entire point of the certainty provisions in BAAJA is they *DO NOT* rely on a non-binding promise from the admin Rep Casten's view relies on a popular misconception about how the admin abuses permits: 🧵 – Lots of folks believe the Trump administration is literally ignoring the law to block renewables --> therefore, no change to the law can fix the abuse. – But this is an exaggeration. The administration is not ignoring courts (or they wouldn't be bothering to ask courts to overturn permits). – What the admin is doing is using authorities latent in existing law to abuse projects (e.g. refusing to issue permits, using pretexts to revoke permits, etc.). – The admin's tactics work where the law doesn't provide clear limits on agency behavior and/or doesn't give sponsors & courts the ability to enforce the law effectively. – This is a big difference because it means a new law (e.g. BAAJA) can fix the problem by tightening existing authorities, banning misuse, and creating new remedies for courts to enforce the law. And BAAJA does exactly that! The bill establishes: 1. Extremely tight limits on agency behavior (limits revocations, requires timeline permit decisions). 2. Creates bold new remedies for project sponsors and courts to enforce the law. – If the admin tried their current tactics under BAAJA's protections they'd be under siege by lawsuits; project sponsors would have more incentive to sue, be more likely to win, and courts would have far larger remedies to correct abuse. xitter.cf/SiegelScribe/status/21…
Replying to @SiegelScribe
“Asking me as a legislator to vote in favor of something based on a non-binding promise made by Donald Trump. I can’t even process that thought,” @RepCasten told me. “We need to be very careful to not say that we know definitively whether this bill will be good or bad.”
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Scott Peters retweeted
I agree with every word of this. I’ll add that @RepHuffman will chair the House natural resources committee if Dems win the majority and thus will have the pen on writing the next climate and energy agenda, including trying to change elements of BAAJA he doesn’t like. But if you kill BAAJA now, you’re back at square one—or worse, since you’ll have alienated all the negotiators who secured this deal. If/when Dems take the majority, instead of moving forward, you’ll be picking up the pieces of this deal on the pretty thin hope that you can write an entirely new and better one, and somehow get Trump to sign it when he’ll have zero incentive to do so. The clear move here—including the best way to set Dems up for success next Congress—is to take this (quite strong) deal and hit the ground running next Congress to do more.
I’ve been in the clean energy industry as an entrepreneur for 15 years after a prior career in Dem politics as a bona fide progressive. Without changing many of my views I’ve left that community behind. By far the most frustrating experiences I’ve had on the ground developing solar were in counties run by leftie democrats in my home state of Maryland which is behind now on clean energy goals. They always thought they had a better idea or were smarter than the entire solar community combined. I see that same dynamic with @RepHuffman on permitting reform. Jared, your home state of California is BEHIND on the SB 100 goals. Permits, interconnects, transmission are part of the reason why. THIS is the legislation we believe in. We know our businesses and what removes the rate limiters. We need to elect politicians who want to BUILD the future. (Oh by the way Maryland Dem legislature eventually passed a great permitting bill.)
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Scott Peters retweeted
Okay: Killing BAAJA doesn’t stop a single data center. It stops the tx lines & the rule that makes data centers help pay for them. Without it they still get built, less fairly, & w their own gas turbines. (also electricity is the LIFEBLOOD OF THE MODERN ECONOMY & KEY TO DECARB).
seems like this isn’t exactly an ideal environment to pass “build big things faster” legislation immediately after the midterms
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Scott Peters retweeted
Trump on Iran: Let 'em take out Los Angeles and San Diego, it's a small price to pay
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Scott Peters retweeted
Data centers build their own gas bc they can’t connect to grid fast enough. BAAJA changes this: 1) DCs that agree to flex at peak get a discount & faster hookup. 2) It makes it easier to build clean power on the grid. Some grid gas will get built, but it has to compete w clean.
Does the bill mandate that data centers must connect to the grid?
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Kinda retro but I still like it.
Unpopular opinion: Pricing the externality (rather than pretextual litigation against infrastructure) is still the correct way to address the undeniably real climate harms caused by burning fossil fuels.
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Scott Peters retweeted
Unpopular opinion: Pricing the externality (rather than pretextual litigation against infrastructure) is still the correct way to address the undeniably real climate harms caused by burning fossil fuels.
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Scott Peters retweeted
Actual climate scientist here. The permitting reform bill was introduced by Senate climate champions like @SenWhitehouse. It will reduce US emissions. We don't have the luxury to make the perfect the enemy of the good – which time and time again has led to doing nothing at all.
The problem with invective-spewing Abundance bros like Johnson is that they dismiss the science of climate change — which makes assessing trade-offs in policymaking so much easier, of course.
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smh
It’s instructive to see groups ostensibly dedicated to fighting climate change say they don’t think a bill should be judged by whether it reduces carbon emissions.
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Scott Peters retweeted
Back home from SD and despite the outcome for the #Cubs , I want to take a moment and give a shoutout to all #Padres fans. Enjoyed a lot of great interactions with many Padres fans who were friendly and welcoming in and around @PetcoPark . #FightForTheFaithful
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This is wonderful. Inspiring and heartwarming. Kelly lives.
We’ve been hard at work to get this memorial fund launched and today we’re proud and honored to announce the Kelly Davis Prize for Courage and Compassion in Journalism. We’re looking forward to continuing Kelly’s outstanding work advancing the public’s understanding of social justice issues. And Kelly, we miss you. Learn more here: sdspj.wordpress.com/2026/10/…
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Scott Peters retweeted
We’ve been hard at work to get this memorial fund launched and today we’re proud and honored to announce the Kelly Davis Prize for Courage and Compassion in Journalism. We’re looking forward to continuing Kelly’s outstanding work advancing the public’s understanding of social justice issues. And Kelly, we miss you. Learn more here: sdspj.wordpress.com/2026/10/…
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Scott Peters retweeted
Want lower power bills? This bill makes data centers pay MORE than the costs they cause, and the surplus brings everyone else's rates down. It also lets states bring in FERC to oversee local spending and cut utility profits and levy fines when its' going wrong. It's good!
The data center language in the permitting deal is the best yet & isn't getting enough attention. As I've argued for, it goes beyond "fair share" & forces data centers to pay full costs they cause AND their share of the existing grid. That's *billions of $/year* for ratepayers.
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Statement from New Dem Environment, Climate, & Clean Energy Working Group Chair @RepScottPeters, Chair @RepSchneider, & Vice Chair of Policy @RepNikkiB on the Senate’s released energy permitting reform legislation.
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We cannot decarbonize if we cannot build at a scale and speed not seen in decades. We cannot harness clean energy to power the data center boom if we cannot build more, fast. No permitting reform deal is going to ONLY smooth the way for your preferred resources. But the sclerotic system of environmental permitting and grid planning today is unquestionably a barrier. We have to clear these barriers way, and then continue the fight to build the clean infrastructure necessary to decarbonize America. Take a hard look at this permitting deal. It's (long past) time to get something done.
Replying to @JaneAFlegal
15/You really have to contort yourself to believe tech-neutral reforms that make it easier to build big stuff, especially on federal land, won't help clean energy more than anything else. But I'm sensing this is the debate some groups want to have.
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Exactly this.
This is silly, any deal that passes in 2027 would still need to be bipartisan to be enacted. The deal in hand is good, will make it easier for a Dem administration in 2029 to hit the ground running, and if the new congress has new energy ideas they can always do another bill.
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I am getting very concerned that green groups are going to try to kill a permitting deal that makes it harder to do pretextual Clean Water Act litigation to block natural gas pipelines without even bothering to estimate the emissions impact of the change they are mad about.
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I am getting very concerned that green groups are going to try to kill a permitting deal that makes it harder to do pretextual Clean Water Act litigation to block natural gas pipelines without even bothering to estimate the emissions impact of the change they are mad about.
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