Earthjustice Statement on Westerman-Golden Permitting Reform Bill

Last week, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) introduced the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act. If passed, the bill would further President Trump’s efforts to ramp up destructive fossil-fuel development at any cost to the environment and our health. It would eviscerate public input, government transparency, and access to courts for communities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

“Our country needs to be building the critical infrastructure to transition to a clean energy economy now,” said Earthjustice Vice President of Policy and Legislation Raúl García. “But this bill is not aimed at addressing the needs of communities across the country to clean and lower-cost energy. Instead, it is an attempt to hijack serious conversations about improving the permitting process to gut core environmental protections and appease polluting industries. This proposal will only result in more pollution, poorer health outcomes, and dirty air and water for everyone.”