Today, the U.S. Senate held a vote on Senator Joe Manchin’s dirty permitting legislation as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Lawmakers failed to pass the amendment and effectively killed the legislation once again after Senator Manchin attempted to attach it twice before to must-pass legislation. After the latest vote, Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen issued the following statement:

“The message could not be clearer. This is the third time Senator Manchin has failed to include his dirty permitting deal in must-pass legislation, and nothing has changed. It is still highly unpopular, harms and silences the communities most impacted by fossil fuel development and pollution, and is a giveaway to the fossil fuel industry. It is the wrong blueprint to follow for mapping out our clean energy transition.

“We stand with the communities that fought against this legislation, and we’ll stand with them to craft the solutions we need to ensure our transition to clean energy is grounded in justice and proceeds with the consultation of frontline communities. Numerous environmental organizations wrote to President Biden and offered an alternative framework for our clean energy transition that does not prolong the life of dirty fossil fuels like this dirty permitting deal. We urge lawmakers to drop this destructive effort and work with us on solutions to construct clean energy infrastructure that do not cut communities out of the decision-making process. There is a better way forward.”