BAAJA is still Bad: Congress Must Reject This Fossil Fuel Giveaway
For immediate release
After amendments, Oil Change International reaffirms opposition to the Bipartisan Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA)
The changes to BAAJA have not addressed the major giveaways to the fossil fuel industry, including the problematic provisions on project certainty, disparate treatment, and significant rollbacks to key environmental laws that are often communities’ only chance to raise concerns. The amendments do not change the outcome of this policy: this bill would boost the unprecedented build out of fossil gas infrastructure and associated data centers.
Elizabeth Bast, Executive Director of Oil Change International said today:
“No amount of last minute tinkering can disguise that this bill is a massive giveaway to fossil fuel companies and Big Tech at the expense of communities, the climate, and people’s energy bills. It is exactly what the fossil fuel industry has been asking for years.
“Even BAAJA proponents’ own modeling shows that the bill’s transmission provisions would have no discernable benefit to our climate, while unlocking unprecedented fossil fuel development. At best, BAAJA leaves U.S. emissions over 2.1 billion tons short in 2040 of even a modest climate goal.”
“In Tuesday’s elections, Americans resoundingly rejected AI data centers and the MAGA agenda, including increased reliance on expensive, polluting fossil fuels. The last thing Congress should do is turn around and reward those same industries during the lame duck.”
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