Earthjustice Action Statement on House Passage of Mining Regulatory Clarity Act

Construction equipment at a mining site

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act. The bill would undermine a hard-won court victory for public lands and would create more conflict over mines by allowing mining companies to claim an indefinite number of millsites on public lands and block other uses like recreation, conservation, and clean energy. After the House vote, Earthjustice Action Associate Legislative Representative…

Read More

Earthjustice Action Statement on House Passage of SPEED Act

Cars driving on a street in Washington, D.C. The street dead ends at the U.S. Capitol.

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act. The bill would gut the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by limiting its scope and drastically limiting government accountability efforts when federal agencies fail to adequately consider the health, environmental, or economic impacts of decisions. After the bill’s passage, Earthjustice Action…

Read More

Earthjustice Action Celebrates Reintroduction of Public Health Air Quality Act

Cars driving on a street in Washington, D.C. The street dead ends at the U.S. Capitol.

Washington, DC — Today, U.S. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and U.S. Representatives Troy Carter (D-La.) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) reintroduced the Public Health Air Quality Act of 2025, a landmark bill that would strengthen the nation’s air quality monitoring infrastructure and give families and communities access to real-time data on toxic chemicals and other air pollution near their…

Read More

Don’t Let “Permitting Reform” Help the Trump Administration Further Its Deregulatory Fever Dream

Cars driving on a street in Washington, D.C. The street dead ends at the U.S. Capitol.

By: Stephen Schima, Earthjustice Action Senior Legislative Representative  We can all agree that fighting climate change and mitigating its worst impacts requires us to think creatively, harness the power of American innovation, and quickly build the clean energy infrastructure of the future. But some in Congress are saying that to do so, we need to throw out bedrock environmental laws that have played an important…

Read More

House Uses “Permitting Reform” to Give Polluters Permission to Contaminate our Water Resources

Cars driving on a street in Washington, D.C. The street dead ends at the U.S. Capitol.

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3898, the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today (PERMIT) Act. The bill would significantly weaken several pollution controls in the Clean Water Act, shield polluters from accountability, and hamper the ability of states and Tribal governments to protect their water resources from well-documented pollution sources…

Read More

Republicans Seek to Weaken Clean Air Act Under the Guise of “Permitting Reform”

Storm clouds behind the U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment will mark up a package of bills that would weaken the Clean Air Act. Together, the bills would create new loopholes and procedures to fast-track permits for large industrial projects regardless of the risk of increased pollution. The markup occurs as Congress is voting…

Read More

Earthjustice Action Statement on the FERC Greenhouse Gas and Environmental Justice Policy Act

Cars driving on a street in Washington, D.C. The street dead ends at the U.S. Capitol.

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Reps. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Jennifer McClellan (D-Va) introduced the FERC Greenhouse Gas and Environmental Justice Policy Act. The bill would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to analyze and mitigate the impacts of methane gas pipeline approvals on climate change and environmental justice communities. Methane gas leaks from pipelines pose well-documented…

Read More

Fight for Proper Permitting Reform

Transmission lines at sunset.

Congress is once again in the throes of debating numerous ‘permitting reform’ proposals aimed at speeding up permit approvals for large projects, particularly those that deal with how we get our energy.

Read More

House of Representatives Votes to Rubber-Stamp LNG Projects, Disregarding Thorough Public Interest Determinations

Storm clouds behind the U.S. Capitol

The Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act would increase energy costs, planet-warming emissions, and health burdens on frontline communities  WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1949, the Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2025. The bill would hamstring the federal government’s ability to determine whether liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports are in the public interest. It would eliminate the Department of Energy’s…

Read More