Permitting Reform Public Letter

Its provisions in support of fossil fuels could rubber-stamp new extraction and export projects at the expense of our communities and the planet. [...] The following attacks on our lands, climate, and bedrock environmental laws are especially dangerous to communities across New Mexico and the southwest: ● Industry Profits over Public Lands and Waters: The Manchin-Barrasso bill attempts to restrict the Bureau of Land Management’s ability to manage leases in response to concerns from communities and Tribes by limiting the agency to outdated resourc. [...] The Manchin-Barrasso bill could eliminate the Department of Energy’s ability to meaningfully review whether new export proposals are in the public interest, including by forcing reliance on outdated and deeply flawed studies published by the Trump Administration. [...] The reckless rubber-stamping of LNG in the Gulf and along Mexico’s Pacific Coast will be felt in our communities–particularly as fossil gas from the Permian Basin helps to feed the boom. [...] ● Undercutting Bedrock Protections: The Manchin-Barrasso bill directs the Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior to expand the use of categorical exclusions for emerging energy production projects, attempting to gut meaningful National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes for uncharted proposals.