Jewel Tomasula

Have you heard of permitting reform?
It’s one of the hottest topics in the United States Congress, and four influential Senators recently unveiled a new permitting reform bill aimed at speeding up industrial energy projects of all types, from oil and gas pipelines to wind and solar facilities. Permitting reform changes the rules and timelines that govern how large projects receive government approval.

Seven former leaders of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries have sent a letter to Interior Secretary Douglas Burgum and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urging the administration to withdraw its recent rollback of the Endangered Species Act’s definition of “harm.”

As Congress considers H.R. 9436, a bill that would further delay protections for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, opposition is clear from constituents and conservation leaders across the East Coast.