New Green Tape: We have a permitting deal. Now Congress has to pass it. We spoke to key House Democrat @RepNikkiB about BAAJA – her thoughts on the policy, the politics, and the process ahead. Listen here: greentape.pub/p/right-of-way…

The idea that BAAJA helps data centers is bullshit. To the contrary, it contains aggressive accountability measures *against* data centers. Judge the merits of the data center attack for yourself—this screenshot is the entire basis. But I want to make a larger point here. The effort to manufacture this attack out of thin air is being led by left-wing groups, against Democrats. With the midterms a few weeks away, this is how they choose to spend their time and energy. This is a perfect example of how the left-wing advocacy community has curdled and turned in on itself. And this is all over a bill negotiated by fierce climate champions @SenWhitehouse and @SenatorHeinrich—a bill which even critics acknowledge will reduce carbon emissions and supercharge the green energy buildout. With Democrats poised to take power in few weeks, candidates and lawmakers should take note: these folks are not your allies.

NEWS: 19 FORMER ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERS ENDORSE THE BIPARTISAN PERMITTING REFORM BILL Today, a group of former Cabinet members and White House principals across seven Democratic and Republican administrations sent a letter calling on Congress to pass BAAJA. Here are the signatories: Janet YELLEN, Michael R. POMPEO, Steven T. MNUCHIN, Leon E. PANETTA, Timothy F. GEITHNER, Henry M. PAULSON, Jr., Robert E. RUBIN, Stephen MIRAN, Jared BERNSTEIN, Tyler GOODSPEED, Jason FURMAN, Glenn HUBBARD, Laura D’Andrea TYSON, Michael J. BOSKIN, Jeffrey ZIENTS, Jake SULLIVAN, Brian DEESE, Larry KUDLOW, Allan B. HUBBARD Key highlights from the letter: 1. “We are not building infrastructure fast enough to remain globally competitive… The median time for a new power plant to move from an interconnection request to commercial operation has more than doubled, from less than two years for projects built between 2000 and 2007 to more than four years for projects built between 2018 and 2024. 2. China has built more high-voltage transmission in the last fifteen years than the U.S. has built in all of its history... In 2024, China accounted for 31.5% of global knowledge- and technology-intensive manufacturing value added, compared with 20.7% for the United States. 3. Federally funded or permitted projects require NEPA review, but private projects often do not, creating a threat of failure precisely where the government is trying to be proactive, strategic, and engaged. 4. A project that spends years awaiting approval must continue carrying development and financing costs while remaining exposed to rising input costs. The IEA reports that prices for utility-scale transformers increased 26% in 2024, while lead times for some transformers have stretched as long as six years. 5. Mining projects also face tremendous uncertainty: a 2026 study by researchers at the Colorado School of Mines found that permitting for modern mining projects takes an average of 5.5 years, rising to 8.9 years for contested projects. The U.S. currently has the second-longest mine development timeline in the world. 6. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is the most significant bipartisan legislative effort that Congress has undertaken in decades to tackle these challenges. 7. BAAJA addresses key constraints stifling American industry by requiring interregional transmission planning, strengthening the federal backstop for nationally significant transmission lines, and creating a faster, more predictable process for connecting new generation to the grid. 8. BAAJA also makes permits more durable by imposing tighter timelines for litigation and limiting frivolous lawsuits that can halt projects indefinitely, while preserving community input and judicial review of substantive agency decisions.” The letter was organized by @arnabdatta321 on behalf of @IFP and covered exclusively by the WSJ this morning.

When it comes to permitting reform, well-intentioned folks making arguments like this make the mistake of only looking at one side of the ledger. Yes, hopefully, Dems will have more leverage next Congress—maybe even control of both chambers. But Trump will still be president—and for a bill to become law, the president has to sign it. I hope that if/when Democrats control congress they will aggressively exercise their accountability and oversight roles, including the kind of rigorous and unrelenting investigations the American people deserve. Dems need to shine a light on the corruption of this admin, since what we already know is both beyond the pale and also probably just the tip of the iceberg. But we should apply this same lens to the prospects of a “better” permitting deal next Congress. The idea that in 2027-28, when Dems are hopefully and rightfully raking the Trump admin across the coals, they can also negotiate a more liberal version of a permitting reform bill that hews more closely to the wishes of green groups, and then somehow get Republicans in the Senate to agree to it, and then also get Trump to sign it is, to put it mildly, dubious.

Trump is raising your energy costs on purpose via his attempted blockade of low-cost clean energy. That drives grids to high cost fossil fuel plants. You pay more; Trump’s corrupt fossil-fuel donors make billions. Don’t let the con man con you.

#BAAJA backers: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute, American Gas Association, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, Information Technology Industry Council, American Chemistry Council, Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers